Harry and Meghan hit back at Jeremy Clarkson following apology

Harry and Meghan have issued a stinging rebuke to Jeremy Clarkson after he apologised for suggesting Meghan should “parade naked” through the streets.

Jeremy Clarkson (right) has issued another apology to Harry and Meghan (left).

Jeremy Clarkson has issued a second public apology to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, blaming being “in a hurry” to write his column, in which he suggested Meghan “parade naked” through Britain while people “throw lumps of excrement at her”.

“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,” the British TV personality wrote on Instagram on Monday.

Shortly after Clarkson shared his apology, Harry and Meghan released a statement of their own, making it clear they didn’t accept his excuse and calling out his past catalogue of behaviour.

“While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his longstanding pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny,” a spokesman for the Sussexes said, via reporter Omid Scobie.

“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.”

A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex has responded to Jeremy Clarkson's Instagram apology posted earlier today (and addressed his claim that he emailed the couple in December): pic.twitter.com/DI6YdLIG5a

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) January 16, 2023

Clarkson’s column was published in response to the couple’s Netflix series. Picture: Netflix

In his lengthy statement, Clarkson explained that he “usually” checks his work with someone else before filing.

“But I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry,” Clarkson said. “So when I’d finished, I just pressed send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the landmine exploded.

“It was a slow rumble to start with and I ignored it. But then the rumble got louder. So I picked up a copy of The Sun to see what all the fuss was about. We’ve all been there, I guess. In that precise moment when we suddenly realise we’ve completely messed up. You are sweaty and cold at the same time. And your head pounds. And you feel sick. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Had I really said that? It was horrible.”

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The former Top Gear host’s column received a litany of complaints.

Just hours after his apology went live, reports emerged that Clarkson’s contract with Amazon Prime Video had ended following backlash over the column.

The former Top Gear host’s upcoming seasons of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm have already been commissioned by the streaming service and will go ahead, but according to Variety, it’s unlikely he will appear in any new shows beyond 2024.

Clarkson’s article originally appeared in The Sun but was later removed following a wave of complaints. The British newspaper previously said it regrets its publication and was “sincerely sorry”.

During his book publicity blitz last week, Prince Harry had also called out Clarkson for “encouraging” the mistreatment of women.

“When we’re talking about accountability, just recently, which I know you know about, the Jeremy Clarkson article …” he told ITV presenter Tom Bradby.

“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.”

Clarkson sparked a major uproar in December after declaring he hated Meghan on “a cellular level” following the release of Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.

Addressing his words now, he admitted they were “disgraceful” and he was “profoundly sorry”.

He also appeared to take a swipe at those who were unwilling to forgive him.

“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,” Clarkson wrote in the statement, adding that his “own daughter took to Instagram” to “denounce” him and that ITV (the British network which airs his show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?) and Amazon, were “incandescent”.

“I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then on Christmas morning, I emailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too,” he said.

News.com.au has contacted Amazon Prime Video for comment.

Originally published as Harry and Meghan hit back at Jeremy Clarkson following apology