Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reject Jeremy Clarkson’s apology

The Sussexes have refused to accept an apology from Jeremy Clarkson over his controversial column as Amazon prepares to cancel the TV star.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have rejected an apology from Jeremy Clarkson over his controversial column in The Sun.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex issued a statement on Tuesday that accused the British TV presenter of spreading “hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny”.

It follows an email apology sent to the Duke of Sussex on Christmas Day in which Clarkson said he was sorry for the “disgraceful” column inciting violence against Ms Markle.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have hit back at Jeremy Clarkson. Picture: Netflix

The Sussexes’ scathing response on Tuesday came as it emerged Clarkson’s Farm and The Grand Tour series may be dropped by Amazon Prime.

According to Variety, the streaming service won’t be working with Clarkson beyond the seasons that have already been commissioned.

Jeremy Clarkson’s series The Grand Tour may be dropped by Amazon.

The Sussexes said the column spread “dangerous conspiracy theories”. Picture: Getty

This means the television star probably won’t appear on Amazon beyond 2024.

Issuing their response, Prince Harry and Meghan said: “On December 25, 2022, Mr Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.

“The contents of his correspondence were marked Private and Confidential.

“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.”

Clarkson wrote in his column last month that he dreamed of the day when Ms Markle “is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”.

The TV presenter has apologised for the column.

Jeremy Clarkson emailed the Sussexes to apologise. Picture: Getty

The piece triggered a wave of protest and became the UK Independent Press Standards Organisation’s most complained-about article.

Prince Harry himself said in his ITV television interview broadcast on January 8 that it was “horrific and … hurtful and cruel towards my wife”.

He also said it encouraged misogyny around the world.

Earlier on Tuesday, in a post published on Instagram, Clarkson admitted Amazon and ITV were “incandescent” over his newspaper column.

He also admitted to emailing the royal couple to apologise.

Clarkson said he was saying sorry because he had been asked to.

But he insisted his apology came “all the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head”.

Known for his provocative columns, Clarkson claimed that he had been referring to a scene from the Game of Thrones series.

The Sun in late December said it was “sincerely sorry” for the publication and had removed the column from its website and archive.