What Jeremy Clarkson wrote about Meghan Markle was incredibly damaging – and not just for her. 

To be a woman is to live with fear lurking behind corners. Keys are clutched between our fingers as we race home from the bus stop. We turn down dates in the most delicate manner to avoid potential rage in response. Young boys parrot the words of Andrew Tate and laugh. Members of the police joke about raping women. A woman is killed by a member of the police. A woman is killed. A woman is killed. 

This culture isn’t inevitable. It’s created in small moments and big ones, as lines are drawn and crossed and hatred and violence against women is normalised, over and over. 

This normalisation needs to be called out. And while watching ITV’s Harry: The Interview, last night, it was encouraging to see Prince Harry do exactly that. 

Speaking about the column written by Jeremy Clarkson, Harry said: “What he said was horrific, and it’s hurtful and cruel towards my wife, but it also encourages other people around the UK and around the world, men particularly, to think it’s acceptable to treat women that way. 

“To use my stepmother’s words, there is a global pandemic of violence against women.” 

Harry is right. When Jeremy Clarkson wrote that he “hates” Meghan Markle, that he dreamed of the day when she is “made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds shout ‘shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”, the impact goes far beyond the Duchess of Sussex.

For anyone to think these things is concerning. To write them down – and to believe that “everyone who’s my age thinks the same way” – even more so, and it suggests that Clarkson has a deeply troubling way of viewing a woman he doesn’t know. But what should give us all the more pause is that these thoughts were published on a major news site. That isn’t just accepting or permitting these views, it’s promoting them. This is the normalisation of fantasising about violence against women in action.

After more than 20,000 complaints, The Sun removed Clarkson’s article and issued an apology, stating: “In last Saturday’s Sun, Jeremy Clarkson wrote a comment article about the Duchess of Sussex. It provoked a strong response and led to a large number of complaints to IPSO, the independent press regulator.

“In a tweet earlier this week, Jeremy said he had made a ‘clumsy reference to a scene in Game Of Thrones’, which had ‘gone down badly with a great many people’ and he was ‘horrified to have caused so much hurt’. He also said he will be more careful in future.

“Columnists’ opinions are their own, but as a publisher, we realise that with free expression comes responsibility. We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry. The article has been removed from our website and archives.”

But was that apology taking true accountability for the impact of these words? Prince Harry doesn’t appear to think so. “It’s no longer a case of me asking for accountability, but at this point, the world is asking for accountability,” he said. 

The Sun said sorry… but what for? A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan said the statement was a “PR stunt” and that The Sun hadn’t reached out to Meghan. The Sun mentioned the “strong response” to Clarkson’s column, but made no mention of the actual impact of what he called a “clumsy reference”. It’s difficult to take an apology as sincere when the body issuing it won’t say exactly what it’s for. 

How can we start to unpick the deeply woven culture of anger, hatred and violence towards women if we don’t acknowledge the impact of these seemingly less serious moments? How can we make women feel safer when we let things slide? 

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It really doesn’t matter what you think of Meghan Markle. When men like Jeremy Clarkson lash out against her, he uses her as a warning sign for all women: if you step out of line, if you do something men don’t like, you’re at risk of the same treatment. Men can attack your character, fantasise about women being humiliated and loudly declare their hatred of you, and in many cases, they’ll get away with it. 

Prince Harry is right – we are facing a pandemic of violence against women, and it’s on everyone to stop the spread. Acknowledging the ripple effect of comments like these, and refusing to let them fly, is a vital first step. 

This is part of the culture shift Stylist is working towards as part of our A Fearless Future campaign. This is a series that aims to challenge the attitudes that underpin, encourage and tolerate male violence against women and girls in our society; attitudes that were exemplified in the Clarkson column. 

A Fearless Future is about understanding that laws can only go so far in protecting women – we need a full overhaul of our misogynistic culture. Noticing when these moments of sexism happen matters, and encouraging widespread change is essential, not just in the form of acts of violence against women, but in every incident that sends the message that this is OK. 

The Clarkson column was an attack on Meghan Markle, but also yet another shot fired in the onslaught against all women. The hate Meghan receives isn’t just an attempt to intimidate her, but to make us all afraid. We can’t let it slide. 

Main image: Getty, Stylist

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