It was the famous phrase used by the late queen when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle criticized the royals in their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Now the words “recollections may vary” have returned three years later, with a friend of King Charles III using them to deny claims he “refused to find space in his diary” to see his son Harry during the three days of separate royalty. He visits Britain last week.
Now a war of words has broken out between sources close to Charles and Harry over what really happened, after the Duke of Sussex flew to London for three days of Invictus Games-related events, including a service at St Paul’s Cathedral .
In the days before Harry’s visit, it was reported that he was looking forward to seeing his father, and sources close to the duke insisted he had requested the meeting in advance.
But those close to the King suggested that the monarch was not aware of this request or of an invitation to the service, which Harry is said to have extended to senior royals.
King Charles speaks to guests at a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London on May 8.
Prince Harry leaves St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on May 8 after an Invictus Games service.
They also claimed that Harry was offered accommodation at a royal palace, which made the meeting easier, but the duke ended up staying in a hotel during his three-day visit.
And upon Harry’s arrival, the Duke’s team announced that such a meeting would not be possible due to the King’s busy schedule, as the monarch returned to public events following his cancer diagnosis.
A spokesman for Harry said at the time: “In response to the many queries and continued speculation about whether or not the Duke will meet his father while in the UK this week, unfortunately, it will not be possible due to the full availability of Your Majesty”. program.
“The Duke, of course, understands his father’s diary of engagements and other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
MailOnline understands it was unusual to make such a statement given that the Sussexes’ press team has a policy of not commenting generally on the couple’s relationship with the Royal Family.
Harry’s service at St Paul’s ended up taking place at the same time as the King was hosting the first garden party of the season at Buckingham Palace, just two miles away, on the evening of May 8, but father and son still They couldn’t meet.
Harry and Charles were two miles apart: one in St Paul’s and the other in Buckingham Palace.
Queen Elizabeth II smiles with Harry and Meghan on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 2018
And Harry’s friends told him Sunday weather that the duke asked to see his father long before the visit, adding that they “can’t imagine” that the request “fell in vain.”
They added: ‘Even if they had not received a request, which I do not believe, could Her Majesty not have requested to see her son? Everyone knew it was coming.
Another source added: ‘I’m very surprised. I was fully expecting them to meet. I know that’s what he wanted to happen and I don’t know when he’ll be back.’
However, the king’s friends gave a different version of events: one of them quoted the famous phrase “recollections may vary.”
The source told the Sunday Times: “While it is true that the King is understandably cautious about meeting Harry, given the publicity circus that seems to surround all such visits, he of course agreed to see his son at his most vulnerable moment. his life”. her illness [in February]and with very little notice.
“While he was hardly going to roll out the red carpet at the time this trip to Invictus was announced, with doctors advising him to focus on his treatment and recovery, the idea that he refused found space in his diary… Well, let’s just say memories may vary once again.’
The famous statement issued by Buckingham Palace after the interview with Oprah in March 2021
The phrase “recollections may vary” comes from a public statement issued by Queen Elizabeth II in March 2021 following claims made by the Sussexes in their interview with Oprah about racism and an alleged failure to help Meghan when she was struggling.
The Duchess of Sussex, who in 2018 became the first mixed-race person to marry a senior royal in centuries, said during the interview that a royal expressed concerns to Harry about how dark the Archie’s skin tone before he was born.
The Queen then issued a statement saying the issues raised would be dealt with privately as a family, adding that “some recollections may vary” and that the Sussexes “will always be much loved members of the family.”
Two years later, a book by royal correspondent Valentine Low claimed that it was, in fact, Kate who pressured the Queen to use the phrase “recollections may vary.”
In his book ‘Coutiers’, Low claimed that a draft palace statement initially did not include the famous phrase and was a ‘much softer version’, adding: ‘William and Kate were clear which side of the debate they were on. They wanted it to toughen up a little.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021
When a courtier first suggested the phrase “recollections may vary,” at least two palace officials are said to have argued against it in case it further irritated Harry and Meghan.
But it was Kate “who pressed the argument that it should stay,” Low’s book says.
The strengthened draft went to Buckingham Palace for approval and returned a couple of hours later, with a “yes” from the Queen, before being published.
It came at a time when the Sussexes had plunged the Royal Family into one of the most challenging periods in modern royal history during the twilight years of the Queen’s reign.
The Megxit saga, the split between Harry and his brother Prince William, and then the accusations in the Oprah interview left the Windsors in crisis.
But the Sussexes have always gone out of their way to publicly praise the Queen, and even named their daughter Lilibet after her, her family nickname since childhood.
MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment and asked a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan if there is any update following last week’s statement.