THE BBC last night accused the Duchess of Sussex of telling “simple untruths” in her and Prince Harry’s Netflix series — and said “recollections may vary”.
Meghan was taken to task by the Beeb over her claims that her engagement interview was an “orchestrated reality show” and “rehearsed”.
The 41-year-old told Harry & Meghan viewers that the interview in 2017 was carefully staged, saying “we weren’t allowed to tell our story, we weren’t allowed”.
But furious former BBC director general Tony Hall hit back, saying it was “simply untrue”.
Mishal Husain, who conducted the TV interview, also reacted to Meghan’s claims.
The Radio 4 Today host said: “We know recollections may vary on this particular subject, but my recollection is definitely very much: asked to do an interview and do said interview.”
It echoes the late Queen’s response following Meghan and Harry’s suggestions of Palace racism during their interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Wales are bracing for more one-sided attacks from the Sussexes over their “family conflict” in next week’s episodes.
Meghan will describe the rows that led to the Sussexes quitting William and Kate’s Royal Foundation and ending the “Fab Four”.
She will say: “This is when a family and a family business are in direct conflict.”
And she and Harry will attempt to give viewers their account of Megxit by claiming they were left with “no other option” but to quit royal duty to live in America.
Royal insiders say the royals are frustrated that Meghan and Harry are giving viewers a biased account of their time in the UK.
Many claims — such as royal racism, blaming Brexit for Megxit and claims the Commonwealth was “Empire 2.0” — went unchallenged in the first three episodes of the six-part docuseries.
Palace sources say King Charles feels “wounded” but “the door is always open to Harry” despite the constant public family trashing. In that spirit, he and Meghan are to be invited to play a key role in next year’s coronation despite their attacks on the monarchy.
'Was always going to happen'
Senior royals are not publicly reacting to the series and are said to be getting on with their duties.
Harry, 38, has also faced claims of hypocrisy after he used the show to slam Meghan’s father Thomas Markle for doing deals with photographers.
The shameless prince told Netflix: “It’s amazing what people will do when offered a huge amount of money.”
He and Meghan are said to have been paid £80million to spill their guts on the show.
The couple also have previous form for struggling to tell the whole truth after at least 17 mistakes in their Oprah Winfrey interview last year.
Meghan even had to apologise to the High Court after “forgetting” she had briefed the authors of Finding Freedom despite denying the claims for years.
Yesterday, their spokeswoman raised eyebrows by claiming Megxit was never about privacy.
Ashley Hansen told The New York Times: “Their statement announcing their decision to step back mentions nothing of privacy and reiterates their desire to continue their roles and public duties.
"Any suggestion otherwise speaks to a key point of this series. They are choosing to share their story, on their terms, and yet the tabloid media has created an entirely untrue narrative that permeates press coverage and public opinion. The facts are right in front of them.”
Sources close to William and Kate say they are shocked that the Sussexes are painting a picture of a couple abandoned by the Royal Family when so much was done to make them happy.
But Harry will whinge in next week’s episode: “There's a hierarchy of the family.” He will say: “Everything that has happened to us was always going to happen to us.” Meghan will also describe the period after her wedding and say: “Suddenly what clocked in my head was it’s never gonna stop.”
And Harry will tell why they quit royal life for the US, saying: “There was no other option at this point. We need to get out of here.”
Netflix claims the Royal Family were approached for comment but this is heavily disputed.
