Harry and Meghan released a statement responding to Jeremy Clarkson's hateful comments

They're not impressed with his apology

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on stage during the Invictus Games The Hague 2020 Opening Ceremony at Zuiderpark on April 16, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands.
(Image credit: Photo by Chris Jackson / Getty)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle don't think Jeremy Clarkson's latest apology is good enough.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have issued a statement condemning the columnist's hateful comments about Meghan, following his new attempt at explaining himself on Instagram.

Let's rewind. On 16 December, the Top Gear presenter wrote about the Duchess in The Sun: "At night, I'm unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she [Meghan] 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 backlash was immediate, with his daughter Emily publicly stating that she stood against her father's comments, and more than 60 MPs demanding action against Jeremy Clarkson.

Variety also recently released a report that stated Amazon Prime was likely to cut ties with the presenter following the outrage he caused, though this hasn't been verified on the record.

In a lengthy statement posted to Instagram on 16 January, Jeremy Clarkson attempted to explain how his offensive column came to be.

He revealed: "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.

"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."

After his statement was released, Harry and Meghan came back with one of their own, as seen in the Guardian:

"On 25 December 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 longstanding 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."

Prince Harry previously addressed the controversy during his recent ITV interview with Tom Bradby.

He said: "Not only did what he say 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.

"To use my stepmother’s words recently as well, there is a global pandemic of violence against women."

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.