It was three words that reverberated around the world: On the heels of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Buckingham Palace released a statement that stated, of Harry and Meghan’s claims in the interview, “recollections may vary.” Now, a new book says, it was Princess Kate who pushed for that memorable line to be included, multiple outlets report.
In the paperback edition of Valentine Low’s book Courtiers—and per The Daily Mail—behind the scenes, Kate was even “steelier” than Prince William in helping devise the Palace response to Harry and Meghan’s claims of racism in the interview. The couple were united in wanting a “toughened up” statement and told Her late Majesty so.
A draft statement was ready by 2 p.m. the day after the interview aired on Sunday in the U.S., but the Palace remained silent. “One of the reasons was that the late Queen was adamant that she was going to watch the program first,” an insider told Low for the book. That meant waiting until it was aired on ITV on Monday evening in the U.K. On Tuesday, serious negotiations began over the official statement about the matter, and William and Kate led the charge.
“They sat together on a sofa as they discussed with their officials how to deal with the Sussexes’ incendiary allegations,” Low writes, per The Times. The draft statement initially did not include the “recollections may vary” line and was a “much milder version”: “William and Kate were clear which side of the debate they were on,” the book details. “They wanted it toughened up a bit.” The two were adamant that “this does not stand,” the book continues.
While Kate was “right behind” William, she was apparently even more firm than he was on the matter. When a courtier first suggested the “recollections may vary” line, at least two Palace officials argued against it, not wanting to rile Harry and Meghan further. But it was Kate “who pressed home the argument that it should remain,” Low writes.
“It was Kate who clearly made the point ‘History will judge this statement and unless this phrase or a phrase like it is included, everything that they said will be taken as true,'” a source says. The source says it is but one example of how Kate is often tougher than she appears—“She does not get as much credit as she should, because she is so subtle about it,” the insider says. “She is playing the long game. She has always got her eye on ‘This is my life and my historic path, and I am going to be the Queen one day.’”
The toughened-up draft went to Buckingham Palace for approval and the late Queen replied with a “yes” couple of hours later. It went out Tuesday night and made its way into the lore of royal history.
