Written by Amy Beecham

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have called out Jeremy Clarkson’s pattern of “writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny”.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have dismissed an apology from Jeremy Clarkson following his “hateful” column in The Sun newspaper, which sparked outrage against the presenter.

In the column, published on 16 December, Clarkson wrote that he hated Meghan on a “cellular level”, and added: “At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.”

It became the press regulator IPSO’s most complained about article ever and was removed from The Sun’s website at his request, with the publisher also apologising to the couple.

On Monday, Clarkson shared a further apology to Instagram, writing: “I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head. This is me putting my hands up.” 

However, after previously rejecting the paper’s apology as “nothing more than a PR stunt”, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess said: “On 25 December 2022, Mr Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. The contents of his correspondence were marked private and confidential.

“While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his longstanding pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny.

“Unless each of his other pieces were also written ‘in a hurry’, as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate.”

Prince Harry had also discussed the column in an interview promoting his autobiography, Spare, in which he said the column was “horrific, and is hurtful and cruel towards my wife” but also encourages other people around the UK and around the world, men particularly, to think it’s acceptable to treat women that way. 

Clarkson was also criticised by his own daughter, Emily, an author and podcast host, who said in a social media statement: “I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle.”

Images: Getty

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