Jeremy Clarkson contacted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Christmas Day to say sorry (Picture: Rex)
Jeremy Clarkson has said he has emailed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to apologise over his hateful column.
The former Top Gear host, 62, sparked an uproar last month after stating that he ‘hated’ the Duchess of Sussex on a ‘cellular level’ and dreamed about her being paraded through the streets and shamed.
In a lengthy statement posted on his Instagram account, Clarkson said he emailed the couple on Christmas Day to say his language in the column had been ‘disgraceful’ and he was ‘profoundly sorry’.
He wrote: ‘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.
Clarkson emailed Meghan and Harry on Christmas Day to apologise (Picture: Getty)
‘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.’
He continued: ‘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.’
Concluding his statement, Clarkson said: ‘Over the last thirty years, I have written very nearly five thousand newspaper and magazine columns, so it was inevitable that one day, 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 and vigilant at the same time. You never hear peals 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.’
His statement comes just one week after Prince Harry hit out at him during an explosive ITV interview with Tom Bradby.
Clarkson described the language he had used as ‘disgraceful’ (Picture: Getty)
He told the host: ‘When we’re talking about accountability, just recently, which I know you know about, the Jeremy Clarkson article…
‘So not only was what he said horrific and hurtful and cruel towards 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.’
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Clarkson’s article – which was later removed by The Sun – became the most complained about in history, with more than 20,800 complaints to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso).
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The former Top Gear host sparked an uproar last month after stating he ‘hated’ the Duchess of Sussex on a ‘cellular level’.
