Jeremy Clarkson reveals he has emailed Meghan and Harry to say he is ‘profoundly sorry’

Jeremy Clarkson reveals he has emailed Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to say he is ‘profoundly sorry’ for column saying Duchess of Sussex should be publicly shamed

  • TV presenter faced a fierce backlash over his newspaper column about Meghan
  • Prince Harry recently branded Clarkson’s remarks about his wife ‘horrific’
  • Clarkson says in an Instagram post that he emailed the couple to say sorry again

Jeremy Clarkson says he emailed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Christmas Day to apologise for a column in which he said he hated Meghan.

The presenter, 62, wrote that he had dreamed of the 41-year-old duchess parading through British towns being publicly shamed in his column in The Sun newspaper.

It sparked a fierce backlash, with Harry accusing Clarkson of inciting hatred towards women, and both Clarkson and the newspaper apologised last month.

Jeremy Clarkson says he emailed Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Christmas Day to apologise

Clarkson went on Instagram today to reveal he had emailed the royal pair again to apologise

Clarkson went on Instagram today to reveal he had emailed the royal pair again to apologise

But today he repeated his apology in a lengthy statement on his Instagram account in which he discussed the correspondence.

Clarkson said he had not read his column ‘to someone else’ before giving it to The Sun to publish, something he ‘usually’ did. He said he emailed the couple on Christmas Day to say his language in the column had been ‘disgraceful’ and he was ‘profoundly sorry’.

He said: ‘One of the strange things I’ve noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or a well-known person is asked to apologise 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 on my head. This is me putting my hands up. Its a mea culpa with bells on.

Harry and Meghan did not accept Clarkson and The Sun's first apology and called it a stunt

Harry and Meghan did not accept Clarkson and The Sun’s first apology and called it a stunt

Michelle Donelan insisted she did not 'align' herself with the TV presenter's comments about Meghan, but the Culture Secretary vowed to 'always champion' the freedom of the Press

Michelle Donelan insisted she did not ‘align’ herself with the TV presenter’s comments about Meghan, but the Culture Secretary vowed to ‘always champion’ the freedom of the Press

‘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’d finished, I just pressed send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the land mine exploded.’

Clarkson’s column was published last year and attracted criticism from high-profile figures including his own daughter, influencer Emily Clarkson.

It quickly became the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s most complained-about article ever.

In its apology, The Sun said: ‘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 newspaper added that the article had also been removed from their archives as well as their website.

Clarkson’s original apology on Twitter on December 19 had said: ‘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. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.’

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