Meghan Markle started planning the shocking interview with Oprah Winfrey three years earlier, shortly before marrying Prince Harry.

When the chat queen called in 2018, the Duchess, 39, was happy to talk.

Oprah says in a clip from the interview, “You said sorry, it's not the right time.”

Meghan took another shot at “The Firm,” alleging that Palace aides prevented her from speaking with Oprah before the Royal Wedding.

Oprah Winfrey remembers calling Meghan in London in “either February or March 2018” in the 60-second teaser shot, which is the longest so far.

Meghan, 39:  “Well, I remember that conversation very well.

“I wasn't even allowed to have that conversation with you personally, right. There had to be people from the camp sitting there.”

After Oprah's invitation for an interview, the two met for the first time at Kensington Palace several weeks later.

In May 2018, the 67-year-old US television legend was a surprise guest at Meghan and Harry's £30 million wedding.

Members of the Royal Household were listening in on a conference call between Meghan and Harry when they attempted to schedule an interview, according to Meghan, who says she was “silenced” during her time as a working royal.

Oprah says: “You turned me down nicely and said perhaps there will be another time, when there's the right time. What is right about this time?”

Meghan says, “Umm . . . well, so many things.” That we're on the other side of a lot of . . . a lot of life experience that's happened.

“And also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn't have said ‘yes' to you then. That wasn't my choice to make.

The scheme was exposed by the Duchess three years after Oprah and CBS denied discussing an interview with her.

When asked about it in June 2018, Oprah claimed flatly that it was not on the cards.

But how did Meghan and Winfrey meet in the first place?

According to reports, Winfrey had only met the Duchess once before being invited to her wedding, and the bombshell interview is the culmination of a three-year conversation between the two ladies.

According to The New York Times, the 67-year-old contacted Meghan via CBS and the two talked on the call.

After the wedding, Oprah has come out publicly in favor of Meghan and Harry on a number of occasions.

Doria Ragland, Meghan's mother, is also a friend of Winfrey's. After pictures of Ragland leaving Winfrey's house with presents surfaced, sources suggested that the TV host had lavished her with gifts in an attempt to persuade her to do a candid interview.

The stories made Winfrey chuckle. “I love the story of Meghan's mother coming to my house and leaving with presents. She told Entertainment Tonight, “Do you know what the presents were?”

“We had kumquat dessert for lunch, and she said, ‘I love kumquats,' and I said, ‘I have a kumquat tree, do you want any kumquats?'

“They were kumquats, with all of the people who said I was sending her presents and attempting to pay her for an interview.”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING

Meghan spent almost three years preparing a sensational Oprah Winfrey interview.

Since 2019, when royal aides overruled Meghan's plans to grant an exclusive to Gayle King, she has been in contact with Oprah Winfrey about an interview.

According to a source, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's widely publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday, in which they announced “shocking things” about their lives as members of the royal family, has been in the works for almost three years.

After the birth of her son Archie in May 2019, the Duchess of Sussex sought to schedule a “short interview” with Gayle King, a friend and CBS anchor, according to the Daily Mail.

Meghan was, however, overruled by the royal family's public affairs team. According to the Daily Mail, royal aides were concerned that the British media would be outraged that the American duchess was giving her first exclusive interview to an American TV celebrity.

According to the Daily Mail, Meghan's expected interview with King, who is a close associate of Winfrey's, may have happened at a time when Kensington Palace officials were attempting to suppress reports of tensions between Harry and Meghan and Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Meghan and Harry are no longer constrained by those constraints now that they have formally resigned from royal duties and transferred to California. The Daily Mail reported that Winfrey had been in contact with them on “when they will do the show,” and that they had agreed to a “wide-ranging” interview with no topic off limits.