Harry and Meghan news – live: Jeremy Clarkson apology over The Sun column accused of misogyny

Former Top Gear host said he was ‘profoundly sorry’ for language in column

Prince Harry shows Stephen Colbert the necklace William broke

Jeremy Clarkson failed to address his “long-standing pattern” of writing articles that spread “hate rhetoric” when apologising to Meghan for his Sun column, the Sussexes have claimed.

On Monday 17 January, the TV presenter apologised to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex over a “disgraceful” piece he wrote about the latter in December last year.

But the couple said Mr Clarkson “wrote solely” to Prince Harry, who was not the subject of his piece. They also rejected his claims to have written the column “in a hurry”.

In the article, the former Top Gear host said he despised the duchess on a “cellular level”, adding that he dreamt of the day she would be made to parade naked through Britain while a crowd chanted “shame” and threw “excrement” at her.

Mr Clarkson, in his apology, said: “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. It’s a mea culpa with bells on.”

Key points

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle respond to Jeremy Clarkson apology
• Ex-Top Gear host says he ‘felt sick’ over his column, in ‘mea culpa with bells on’
• Prince Harry describes Meghan Markle’s ‘flawless’ first curtsy despite seemingly mocking the tradition
• Iran says Harry killing Taliban ‘like chess pieces’ means UK in ‘no position to preach’ over execution
• Jeremy Paxman shares verdict on Prince Harry memoir Spare

[17 January 2023 02:41 · Andy Gregory]

What was Sussexes' and Clarkson’s initial reaction to Sun column?

Prior to the joint statement from the Sussexes and Jeremy Clarkson’s statements on Monday about his much-maligned column in The Sun, both he and Prince Harry had previously spoken out on the subject. Here is what they said:

For their part, the couple issued a statement calling the paper’s “sincere” apology “nothing more than a PR stunt” and accusing it of profiting off and exploiting “hate, violence and misogyny”.

Prince Harry later told ITV’s Tom Bradby: “What [Clarkson] said was horrific, and is 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.”

[17 January 2023 01:36 · Andy Gregory]

Queen Elizabeth pressed Meghan Markle for opinion on Trump in 2016, book claims

Among the lesser-covered revelations in Prince Harry’s book was the claim that Queen Elizabeth II put the future Duchess of Sussex on the spot at their first meeting by asking her opinion of Donald Trump when the latter was a US presidential candidate.

He described the first encounter between the late Queen and the future Duchess as “all very pleasant,” and noted that the meeting took place in late 2016, just before Mr Trump’s victory.

“Granny even asked Meg what she thought of Donald Trump,” he wrote, adding that Meghan “thought politics a no-win game” and described how she deftly changed the subject to Canada, where she’d been living while filming Suits.

In response, he said the late Queen “squinted” and replied to Meghan: “I thought you were American”, to which she replied: “I am, but I’ve been living in Canada for seven years for work”. He writes: “Granny looked pleased. Commonwealth. Good, fine.”

[16 January 2023 16:25 · Emily Atkinson]

Recap: What did Jeremy Clarkson say about Meghan Markle?

Jeremy Clarkson has come under fire for his most recent comments about Meghan Markle, with a plethora of fellow celebrities criticising his “hateful” rant.

Over the past two years, Mr Clarkson has continued to give Markle the attention he has claimed she “craves so desperately” through a stream of online criticism and newspaper columns.

Ella Kipling takes a look back at Mr Clarkson’s most controversial comments about Markle, whichcover everything from climate change and polar bears to calling Markle a “silly little cable TV actress”: