Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dismiss The Sun's Jeremy Clarkson apology as a 'PR stunt'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are less than impressed with The Sun's apology with regard to Jeremy Clarkson's appalling rant about the Duchess of Sussex in a column for the paper.

The couple has dismissed the apology as "nothing more than a PR stunt", claiming that the paper needs to make a "shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all". 

The original column, which saw Jeremy Clarkson make a scathing attack on Meghan Markle, went viral for all the wrong reasons, receiving a historic number of complaints and promoting over 60 MPs to 'demand action' against Clarkson following his aggressive language towards Markle.

In response to the backlash, The Sun offered Prince Harry and Meghan Markle an apology on Friday, with a statement claiming the publication regretted publishing the broadcaster's column, saying they are "sincerely sorry," according to reporting from the BBC.

The statement went on to say that while columnists' opinions are their own and not the paper's, as a publisher, 

On Friday, The Sun said it regretted publishing the broadcaster's column and was "sincerely sorry", "with free expression comes responsibility".

But Harry and Meghan weren't convinced by the apology from the newspaper, accusing The Sun of profiting off and exploiting "hate, violence and misogyny," according to reporting from the BBC.

The statement continued, "A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all. Unfortunately, we're not holding our breath."

The spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle added, "The fact that The Sun has not contacted The Duchess of Sussex to apologise shows their intent. This is nothing more than a PR stunt."

Clarkson himself also responded to the criticism on the social media platform Twitter - another apology that fell on deaf ears. 

On 19 December, Clarkson wrote, 'Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.'

Clarkson's column - in which the former Top Gear presenter wrote that he 'hates' the Duchess of Sussex 'on a cellular level' and fantasises at night about her 'parading naked through the streets' as people 'throw lumps of excrement at her' - saw over 20,000 complaints sent to press regulator Ipso, breaking the record for the most-complained-about article ever, according to Ipso's standards.

The hateful column came just days after Meghan revealed in the Netflix series, Harry & Meghan that she the Duchess of Sussex was 'scared' by social media death threats after the continual negative press she suffered at the hands of the British media.