The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have responded to the apology email that TV host Jeremy Clarkson sent to them following his column in The Sun newspaper in which he claimed to “hate” Meghan.
The Sun’s apology was previously criticized by a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan as “nothing more than a publicity stunt.”
The Duchess of Sussex’s spokesperson responded to Jeremy’s apology by saying: “Mr. Clarkson only addressed his letter to Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, on December 25, 2022. His letters had the words “Private and Confidential” written on them.
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“While Mr. Clarkson has issued a new public apology today, his history of penning articles that promote misogyny, dangerous conspiracy theories, and hate speech needs to be addressed. Unless every single one of his other works was also written “It is obvious from his statement that this is not a single instance shared in haste but rather a collection of articles shared in hatred.
The Grand Tour presenter, 62, wrote a lengthy apology on his Instagram account on Monday and revealed that he had emailed Prince Harry and Meghan on Christmas Day. He also expressed his “profound regret.”
As of last week, the column, which was published in December, had received more than 25,000 Ipso complaints.
The complete statement said: “One of the strange things I’ve noticed recently is that no matter how sincere or profound an apology is offered by an MP or other well-known person in response to a request, it is never enough to appease the people who made the initial request.
“I’m going to try to break the mold this morning by retracting what I recently said about Meghan Markle in a Sun column. I apologize sincerely. all the way up to my hair follicles on my head, from the balls of my feet. I’m raising my hands now. It’s a bell-adorned mea culpa.
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“Normally, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but on that fateful day, I was home alone and pressed for time. I simply hit send after I was done. The land mine then detonated the following day, when the column was published.”
Jeremy said this further: “At first, it was a low rumble, which I ignored. The rumble then increased in volume. I decided to read The Sun to find out what all the fuss was about.
“I suppose we’ve all been there. precisely when we realize all at once that we’ve screwed up badly. You’re cold and perspiring at the same time. And your brain throbs. You also feel sick. The information I was reading was unbelievable. Honestly, did I say that? It was awful.
“The moment I realized what had happened, I knew. I had forgotten to mention this because I had been picturing a scene from Game of Thrones. Therefore, it appeared as though I had actually called for Meghan to be subjected to abhorrent violence. When I was accused of all kinds of things during those contentious Top Gear days, it was very infrequently sexism, which made me very angry with myself.
“For example, we never used the “women can’t park” joke. or implied that men should only drive powerful cars. And I was overjoyed when Ellen MacArthur and Jodie Kidd set fastest laps ever in our affordably priced vehicle. I just don’t believe in sexism, and I detest violence against women. And yet it appeared that I was pushing for just that.
“Both myself and everyone else were embarrassed. My phone went bonkers. Extremely close friends were enraged. Even my own daughter criticized me on Instagram.”
Jeremy continued by calling ITV and Amazon, which broadcast The Grand Tour and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, respectively, “incandescent.”
He stated: “The Sun quickly apologized, so I made an effort to defend myself. However, there were still calls for me to be fired and accused of committing a hate crime.
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“More than 60 MPs called for immediate action. The Grand Tour and the Farm Show, both produced by Amazon and ITV, respectively, were dazzling.
“As a result, I sent letters of apology to everyone I work with. On Christmas morning, I also sent an email of apology to Harry and Meghan in California.
“I said the language I had used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry,” adding that I was perplexed by what they had been saying on TV.
His final words were: “I’ve written very nearly 5,000 newspaper and magazine columns over the past thirty years, so it was inevitable that one day I’d pull a Harry Kane and sky one of the damn things. This is what took place with the Meghan-related article.
“Can I now proceed? I’m unsure. It’s challenging to be alert and interesting at the same time. Peals of laughter are never heard during a health and safety seminar. But rest assured that I’ll make an effort. The future? I’ll become a grandfather very soon, so in the future I might just write about that.”
Harry made the following remark in an earlier interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby about the Jeremy Clarkson article: “When we’re talking about accountability… the Jeremy Clarkson article, so not only did what he said was horrific and is hurtful and cruel toward my wife, but it also encourages other people around the UK and around the world, men particularly, to go and think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.”
