Meghan Markle sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair in October 2017. The details of that interview are suddenly under a microscope thanks to a new biography. The interviewer is disputing the claim that he was manipulated by Markle. Here’s what’s going on.
The Kind Meghan Markle Interview
The royal family was far different when Markle sat down with Sam Kashner in 2017. Prince Andrew’s horrible misdeeds were unknown, and Prince Harry was ringless in the United Kingdom. Kashner and Markle discussed many topics: life in Toronto, the media hailstorm that came with dating Harry, and the ongoing success of Suits.
The interview is flattering. “Her warmth is genuine,” Kashner notes, adding that she was handling her newfound fame, “with surprising aplomb.” He calls her “the calm in the center of the media storm.” Years later and she’s still at the center of the storm.
What Really Happened?
Tom Bower, a royal biographer, is releasing excerpts of his new book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors. One piece, published in The Times, concerned this exact interview between Markle and Kashner.
Apparently, Markle told Kashner that she liked him because of his stutter. It made her feel like he was “not a typical journalist. This supposedly left Kashner feeling like he and Markle were “players” in some sort of “cat-and-mouse game.” In short: he felt manipulated by a calculating Markle.
No, What Really, Really Happened
The excerpt has made waves, and it has caused Kashner to pen a letter to The Times rebutting Bower’s version of events. “I’m afraid Tom Bower didn’t convey my admiration and respect for Meghan Markle,” Kashner writes. “I found Ms. Markle to be exceptionally warm and gracious and admired her intelligence and her remarkable courage, as I still do.”
“The piece itself was quite laudatory,” Kashner continues. Judging the piece itself proves this is accurate: Markle comes off exceedingly well. The Vanity Fair writer makes a point of rebutting another of Bower’s claims: “I do not have a stutter. I may hem and haw a bit but a stammer is not a stutter and, as far as I know, Ms. Markle never said she liked me because of it.”
Kashner concludes by congratulating Harry and Markle on their marriage, and by offering some excellent advice: “Theirs is clearly a love match, so maybe we should stop piling on and let the couple live their life in peace.”
Bower has not responded to Kashner’s rebuttal. This is not a good look for his upcoming biography, which already features shady stories about Markle remaining hated by Harry’s closest friends. Since Markle or Harry personally disavowing the book is extremely unlikely, stories like Kashner’s are all the more important to keep in mind.
