Meghan and Harry have released a fresh statement regarding Jeremy Clarkson’s apology (Picture: Getty Images)
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have responded to Jeremy Clarkson’s claims that he sent an apology to the couple after his vitriolic column about the Duchess of Sussex.
Clarkson, 62, broke his social media absence on Monday to reveal that he directly apologised to Meghan and Harry in an Email sent on Christmas Day.
It came after he published a column in The Sun stating he ‘hated’ Meghan on a ‘cellular level’ and ‘dreamt’ of her being ‘paraded’ through towns in the UK and having ‘excrement’ thrown at her.
In a fresh statement, a spokesperson for Meghan, 41, and Harry, 38, has now said: ‘On December 25, 2022, Mr Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.
‘The contents of this correspondence were marked Private and Confidential.’
They continued: ‘While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long standing 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.’
Harry and Meghan were likely referring to the previous controversies Clarkson has been embroiled in over the years, including using racial slurs and offensive comments about the disabled community.
While the Email may have been sent directly to Harry, it’s possible the contents were also addressed to Meghan.
In a grovelling Instagram post, Clarkson said he was ‘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’.
Clarkson said he was ‘mortified’ after seeing the reaction to his column (Picture: Rex Features)
Meghan and Harry have called on Clarkson to address his past controversial comments (Picture: Getty Images)
The Grand Tour presenter went on to explain that he usually reads his columns to someone else but, because he was ‘home alone’ that day, he filed ‘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,’ he wrote.
After seeing the wave of backlash he received online, Clarkson recalled: ‘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.’
He was referring to his daughter, Emily Clarkson, quickly releasing her own statement to make it clear that she did not stand with her father’s diatribe.
Clarkson continued: ‘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 apologise 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.’
Following his statement, reports emerged that Amazon Prime Video had cut ties with Clarkson, whose programmes The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm air on the streaming service.
According to Variety, Amazon will not be working with the TV personality beyond seasons of the two hit programmes that have already been commissioned.
This means that the Top Gear star won’t be appearing in any new shows on Prime Video beyond 2024.
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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Clarkson said he Emailed the Royal couple on Christmas Day.
