BBC producers were caught off guard when the Duke spoke for over 30 minutes — they were only expecting a quick 10-minute chat.

Now, the person behind setting up the interview — which left many wondering how it ever got approved — has been named.

Meredith Maines, a close friend of Meghan Markle, took over as head of communications for the couple’s Archewell Foundation just three months ago.

She arranged the interview and, as head of comms, likely had a say in what Harry planned to talk about.

Maines, a mother of two, is known for strongly defending Meghan online. She’s also taken on another big role — head of communications for Meghan’s new lifestyle brand, As Ever.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Mrs. Maines has been working for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for the past three months. Before that, she worked at Hulu, a streaming service, and at the venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners.

She helped arrange Prince Harry’s interview with the BBC, which led to several shocking claims being made public.

In the interview, the prince made a chilling remark, suggesting that if anything were to happen to him or Meghan, “it would be the Firm’s fault.”

Although he said he wanted to fix things with his family, he also blamed them for taking away his security after Megxit.

He made a dark comment about how long the King might have left to live, but also said he wants to “reconcile” with his father and that he has “forgiven” his family.

Meanwhile, royal insiders said the late Queen would have been “truly horrified” by what Harry said.

They added that, despite talking about reconciliation, Harry has only pushed himself further away from the family.

Sources told ITV News that Harry’s speculation about how much longer his father might live due to his cancer diagnosis was in particularly “poor taste.”

On Sunday, Meghan Markle shared a rare black-and-white photo of Harry and their kids, following his explosive comments.

The Duchess of Sussex posted the picture of the three of them in the garden, with their backs to the camera, but left it caption-free.

A week ago, Meghan, 43, also shared photos of her son, 5, and daughter, 3, playing in the rose garden on Instagram.