EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: BBC star Mishal Husain hits back at Meghan Markle over her claims that her engagement interview was ‘orchestrated’

When the Duchess of Sussex fired a volley of bombs at the royal family in her 2022 Netflix docuseries with Prince Harry, Mishal Husain was among those hit by flying shrapnel.

The BBC star had done the televised interview, which aired after Meghan’s engagement to Prince Harry was announced five years earlier. The former actress suggested that Husain’s meeting with the couple had been an “orchestrated reality show”.

To make matters worse, Meghan complained that the prominent Radio 4 presenter was “not empathetic enough, not warm enough” to do the interview, according to a senior royal source. It was said that Meghan would have preferred her compatriot Oprah Winfrey to have been selected for the job.

Now, however, the usually mild-mannered Husain has taken action and responded to the Duchess of Sussex’s criticism.

She suggests the attack left her stunned. And, rather than Meghan being the naive victim of a coordinated Establishment plot, she and Harry appear to have given much thought to what they would say about their plans.

“When the Duchess of Sussex said my engagement interview with her and Harry was an ‘orchestrated reality show’ I didn’t know what to think,” Husain writes in the August issue of Saga magazine. “They seemed to have thought carefully about what their new life would be like and what marriage would mean for her life in particular.”

Husain adds that there was no indication that there would be any problems.

“There was nothing to indicate what was going to happen,” she says. “They were two people who were full of joy in each other and in life.”

After the Netflix series aired, Lord Hall, the BBC’s director-general at the time of Husain’s interview, rejected Meghan’s criticism, saying it was “simply untrue” to claim the conversation was staged.

In the aftermath, Husain borrowed a line from the late Queen Elizabeth’s response to Meghan’s accusations of racism within the royal family. “Memories can vary,” Husain said dryly on the Today programme. “But my memory is absolutely very bad, being asked to do an interview, and doing that interview.”

Sixties icon Christie is a cheerful presence

Movie star Julie Christie charmed generations of men, was the mistress of Terence Stamp and Warren Beatty and was considered responsible for one of the sexiest moments in film history — “a pivotal erotic scene unparalleled in the history of cinema,” according to one amorous critic — for her performance opposite Donald Sutherland in the thriller Don’t Look Now.

The Oscar winner is now 84, but she still looks stylish, even when running errands near her east London home.

She was seen pulling a shopping cart, wearing cargo pants, a denim shirt and white sandals.

Her striking red scarf and tortoiseshell sunglasses completed the trendy look.

It was the first time she had been seen in public since Sutherland’s death last month at the age of 88.

Acropolis Now! Tyrone’s Fiancé Rocks Her Bachelorette Party

How about this rock ‘n’ roll bachelorette party? Faye Harris, the daughter of heavy metal headbanger Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, partied with friends ahead of her wedding to Tyrone Wood, son of Rolling Stones star Ronnie.

The party was in Athens, but the chickens almost couldn’t make it because of travel problems over the weekend, caused by the IT crisis. ‘Nothing can stop us from partying,’ said one of them. ‘Not even the biggest IT failure in history.’

Hard Rock Life! Nigel Kennedy Forced to Relearn Violin

Punk violinist Nigel Kennedy says he was forced to relearn his craft after becoming partially deaf, blaming it on a Covid-19 booster jab he received in 2021.

“After the third shot I did go deaf,” the 67-year-old musician says. “I could hear things, but not whether they were in tune, so I had to retrain myself.

It took a lot of mental intelligence and concentration to regain my hearing and retrain myself.’

Why Danielle is a very cheerful widow

Danielle De Niese was due to perform at Glyndebourne last year, but pulled out to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End musical Aspects Of Love.

Now the famed soprano may have found an ingenious way to get the best of both worlds.

I hear that The Merry Widow, in which she stars at Glyndebourne in East Sussex, may transfer to the West End.

“Senior members of Cameron Mackintosh’s top team and theatre group Nimax watched the show,” my husband claims from the stands.

Danielle, 45, tells me: ‘It’s just so exciting to have a successful series that has such high demand.

“And we’ve had some wonderful friends come to see the show and rave about it to anyone who would listen.”

Is Adam Peaty engaged to his girlfriend Holly Ramsay?

Does swimmer Adam Peaty, who is preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris, have anything to celebrate yet?

BBC presenter Gabby Logan suggests that three-time Olympic gold medallist Peaty is engaged to his girlfriend Holly Ramsay, the daughter of foul-mouthed TV chef Gordon Ramsay.

During the Olympics Preview Show on BBC One, a clip was shown of Peaty with the restaurateur.

Logan noted, “His [Peaty’s] ‘My future father-in-law is of course Gordon Ramsay.’

Peaty, 29, who has a three-year-old with his former partner Eirianedd Munro, met Holly, 24, when he competed on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 on the same series as her sister Tilly.

Holly’s spokesperson stresses that the couple are not yet engaged.