The controversy surrounding Prince Henry of England and Meghan Markle continues. To mark the occasion, it has been a conflict that has been open for more than a month, as controversial British journalist and presenter Jeremy Clarkson published a controversial column in The Sun tabloid, raging at the Duchess of Sussex: “I hate her . Not that I hate Nicola Sturgeon [líder del Partido Nacional Escocés] or Rose West [la asesina en serie británica]. I hate her on a cellular level.” Within hours, the article was making international headlines for its harsh words, but at no point did Clarkson come out to apologize. Now, after the criticism hasn’t stopped for exactly a month (the column became published on December 17), the moderator has apologized publicly and has done so through his Instagram account in a lengthy statement that has been made public, however, they have stood up and decided not to accept it.
“One of the strangest things I’ve noticed lately is that asking someone you know to apologize for something, no matter how sincere the apology, is never enough. But I will try to buck this trend and apologize for the things I’ve said about Meghan Markle recently. I’m really sorry,” said the moderator of series like Top Gear or Clarkson’s Farm on his Instagram account. The moderator also defended himself and explained the reason for his words: “Usually another person reads what I’ve written before I present it, but on that fateful day I was home alone and in a hurry. When I was done, I just sent it off. When the column was published, everything exploded. I ignored it at first, but when I read it again it was horrible, I couldn’t believe I said that.”
More information
In the column, Clarkson compared Markle to Cersei Lannister himself, one of the main villains of the Game of Thrones series: “I can’t sleep at night. I dream of the day when she will be forced to parade naked through the streets of every city in Britain while the crowd screams ‘Shame!’ and throwing tons of excrement at him.” He also has an explanation for those words: “I was thinking of a Game of Thrones scene but I forgot to mention it and it seemed like he wanted some kind of violence against Markle. I abhor violence against women, yet I seemed to advocate it.” A column that cost him public criticism, even from his closest circle, such as his daughter, who denounced the situation, preventing him from publishing further content.
The first to apologize was The Sun, which withdrew the column a week after it was published and following the controversy. Clarkson, although he claimed have exceeded their contentShe was never able to apologize directly to the Duchess. It has now been revealed that the moderator was trying to contact Enrique and Meghan Markle to correct his mistake: “I’ve written to everyone who worked with me to say I’m sorry and emailed to say hello to apologize to them.” In addition to denying the apology, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have questioned the presenter’s new version through a statement released by the Prince’s spokesman: “On 25 December 2022 Mr Clarkson wrote only to Prince Henry, the Duke of Sussex. The content of his correspondence was marked as private and confidential,” arguing that Markle, the main protagonist of Clarkson’s hatred, was not the subject of his forgiveness. The same spokesman also defends that it is not the first time that the journalist has gone beyond his words: “It remains to delve into his pattern of writing articles that spread hate, dangerous and misogynist conspiracy theories. Unless every one of his other news articles was also hastily written, as he claims, this is clearly not an isolated event.”
The column published by Clarkson could cost him many projects in which he is involved, such as the second season of his documentary series Clarkson’s Farm, which was due to be presented this Tuesday alongside content platform Prime Video and whose press conference was canceled Monday after the Issuing the Declaration of the Dukes. As reported by the audiovisual magazine Variety, it is very possible that the platform will no longer work with the presenter, although they will continue with the projects they already had in hand, such as The Grand Tour or Clarkson’s Farm, which will no longer be broadcast , expected in 2024. The announcement has not yet been made official and Prime Video has not commented on it at this time.
In one of his first interviews to promote his autobiography, In the Shadows, Prince Harry called the article “terrifying, hurtful and cruel.” Thereafter, both in his documentary on Netflix and in his book, or in various interviews, he has denounced the harassment his wife has been subjected to since she became part of the British royal family, and with which he has to compare himself to that of his mother, Diana of Wales , lived before she died.