When the Duchess of Sussex aimed a volley of bombshells at the Royal Family in her Netflix 'docu-series' with Prince Harry in 2022, one of those caught by flying shrapnel was Mishal Husain.

The BBC star had conducted the television interview broadcast after Meghan's engagement to Prince Harry was announced five years earlier. The former actress suggested that Husain's sit-down with the couple had been an 'orchestrated reality show'.

To add insult to injury, Meghan complained that the distinguished Radio 4 presenter 'wasn't empathetic enough, wasn't warm enough' to conduct the interview, according to a senior royal source. It was said that Meghan would have preferred her fellow American Oprah Winfrey to have been selected for the job.

Now, however, the usually mild-mannered Husain has been moved to respond to the Duchess of Sussex's criticism.

She suggests that the attack left her bewildered. And, far from Meghan being the naive victim of some co-ordinated Establishment plot, she and Harry appeared to have given much thought to what they would say about their plans.

'When the Duchess of Sussex said that my engagement interview with her and Harry was an 'orchestrated reality show' I didn't know what to make of it,' Husain writes in the August issue of Saga magazine. 'They seemed to have thought through what their new lives would be like and what marriage would mean for her life in particular.'

Husain adds that there was no hint of the trouble to come.

'There was nothing that pointed to what would happen,' she says. 'It was two people who were full of joy in each other and life.'

After the Netflix series was broadcast, the BBC’s director-general at the time of Husain’s interview, Lord Hall, rejected Meghan’s criticism, saying it was ‘simply untrue’ to suggest the talk was staged. 

In the aftermath, Husain borrowed a phrase from the late Queen Elizabeth’s response to Meghan’s allegations of racism within the Royal Family. ‘Recollections may vary,’ Husain said wryly on the Today programme. ‘But my recollection is definitely very much, asked to do an interview, and do said interview.’

Sixties icon Christie cuts a jaunty figure

Screen siren Julie Christie bewitched generations of men, was a lover of Terence Stamp and Warren Beatty, and was voted responsible for one of cinema's sexiest moments — 'a crucial erotic scene unsurpassed in movie history', according to one besotted critic — for her performance opposite Donald Sutherland in thriller Don't Look Now.

Now aged 84, the Oscar winner still cuts a stylish figure even when carrying out errands near her East London home.

She was seen pulling a shopping trolley while wearing cargo trousers, a denim shirt and white sandals.

Her eye-catching red scarf and tortoiseshell sunglasses completed the trendy look.

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

Acropolis now! Tyrone fiancée's rocking hen do

How about this for a rock'n'roll hen do? Faye Harris, the daughter of heavy metal headbanger Steve Harris, of Iron Maiden, partied with pals ahead of her wedding to Tyrone Wood, son of Rolling Stones star Ronnie.

The bash was in Athens, but the hens almost didn't make it because of travel problems at the weekend caused by the IT meltdown. 'Nothing can keep us from celebrating,' said one of them. 'Not even the biggest IT outage in history.'

Hard Rock Life! Nigel Kennedy forced to relearn violin

Punk violinist Nigel Kennedy says he was forced to relearn his craft after going partially deaf. He blames a Covid-19 booster jab he received in 2021. 

'I did end up losing hearing after the third jab,' the 67-year-old musician tells me. 'I could hear stuff, but not whether it was in tune so easily, so I had to retrain myself. 

It took a lot of actual mental intelligence and concentration to get the hearing back and re-teach myself.' 

Why Danielle's a very Merry Widow

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

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

I hear that The Merry Widow, in which she is starring at Glyndebourne in East Sussex, may win a West End transfer. 

'Senior figures from Cameron Mackintosh's top team and theatre group Nimax have been checking out the show,' claims my man in the stalls.

Danielle, 45, tells me: 'It's just so exciting to have a hit show, in such high demand.

'And we've had some great friends come down to see the show, raving about it to anyone who will listen.'

Is Adam Peaty engaged to girlfriend Holly Ramsay?

Does swimmer Adam Peaty, who's preparing for the Olympics in Paris, have something to celebrate already?

BBC presenter Gabby Logan suggests that triple-Olympic gold medallist Peaty is engaged to his girlfriend Holly Ramsay, daughter of the potty-mouthed television chef Gordon Ramsay. 

During BBC One's Olympics Preview Show there was a clip of Peaty with the restaurateur. 

Logan remarked: 'His [Peaty's] soon-to-be father-in-law, of course, is Gordon Ramsay.' 

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

Holly's spokesman insists the couple are not yet engaged.