British motorsport journalist and broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson has issued a fresh apology to Meghan Markle after coming under fire in December 2022 for writing in a tabloid column that he dreamt of the day the duchess would be paraded "naked" through the streets of Britain and shamed following the release of her Netflix docuseries with Prince Harry.
The controversial broadcaster wrote of Meghan in his regular column for The Sun newspaper on December 16, saying: "I hate her. Not like I hate [First Minister of Scotland] Nicola Sturgeon or [convicted serial killer] Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.
"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."
There was instant condemnation of the words which resulted in 60 British politicians signing a letter calling for action from The Sun's publishers. Clarkson issued an apology to those he offended on December 19, after his own daughter distanced herself from him and his comments online. The apology, however, was not directed at Meghan herself.
"Oh dear. I've rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people," he said on Twitter.
"I'm horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future."
The Sun's publishers issued their own apology and removed the column from their website.
On Monday, Clarkson has released a fresh statement after Prince Harry went on national T.V. during an interview with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes earlier this month, saying that Clarkson's comments only helped prove the couple's point at how toxic the British press could be.
Writing on his personal Instagram page in a lengthy post, Clarkson said:
"One of the strange things I've noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or well-known person is asked to apologize for something, no matter how heartfelt or profound that apology may be, it's never enough for the people who called for it in the first place.
"So, I'm going to try and buck the trend this morning with an apology for the things I said in a Sun column recently about Meghan Markle. I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles of my head. This is me putting my hands up. It's a mia culpa with bells on.
"Usually I read what I've written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So, when I finished, I just pressed send. And then the next day, the land mine exploded.
"It was a slow rumble to start and I ignored it. But then the rumble got louder. So I picked up a copy of The Sun to see what all the fuss was about. We've all been there, I guess. In that precise moment when we suddenly realize we've completely messed up. You are sweaty and cold at the same time. And your head pounds. And you feel sick. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Had I really said that? It was horrible.
"I knew what had happened straight away. I'd been thinking of a scene in Game of Thrones, but I'd forgotten to mention this. So it looked like I was actually calling for revolting violence to rain down on Meghan's head.
"I was very angry with myself because in all those controversial days on Top Gear, when I was accused of all sorts of things, it was very rarely sexism. We never did 'women can't park' gags for instance. Or suggested that powerful cars were only for men. And I was thrilled when Jodie Kidd and Ellen MacArthur set fastest ever laps in our reasonably priced car. I'm just not sexist and I abhor violence against women. And yet I seemed to be advocating just that.
"I was mortified and so was everyone else. My phone went mad. Very close friends were furious. Even my own daughter took to Instagram to denounce me.
"The Sun quickly apologized, and I tried to explain myself. But still, there were calls for me to be sacked and charged with a hate crime. More than sixty MPs demanded action to be taken. ITV, who make Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and Amazon, who make the Farm Show and the Grand Tour were incandescent.
"I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then on Christmas morning, I e-mailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologize to them too. I said I was baffled by what they had been saying on TV but that the language I'd used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry.
"Over the last thirty years, I have written very nearly five thousand newspaper and magazine columns, so it was inevitable that one say, I'd do a Harry Kane and sky one of the damn things. Which is what happened with the piece about Meghan.
"So can I move on now? Not sure. It's hard to be interesting about vigilant at the same time. You never hear pearls of laughter coming from a health and safety seminar. But I promise you this, I will try.
"Who knows? Very soon now I shall be a grandfather so in future, maybe I'll just write about that."
Despite Clarkson's claims, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan told Newsweek that he had addressed his email on Christmas Day only to the prince and marked it "private and confidential."
They went on to add that the column was not an isolated example of his work, which they said spreads "hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny."
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in response to Jeremy Clarkson's apology:
"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."
Newsweek approached representatives of Meghan Markle for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Update 01/17/23, 2:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's spokesperson.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
