The Queen Consort has come under fierce criticism after hosting a lunch reportedly attended by two of her daughter-in-law’s most vocal critics, Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson.
According to reports, Queen Camilla held the glamorous Christmas lunch on Wednesday (14 December), with attendees including Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, and Claudia Winkleman.
The day after the party, Netflix released the final three episodes of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s tell-all documentary series about their time in the royal family.
The following day, on Friday (16 December,), The Sun published a column by Clarkson in which he said he “hates” the duchess.
He wrote that while he “feels rather sorry” for Harry, who he described as a “glove puppet”, his feelings about Meghan were “a different story”.
“I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West,” Clarkson said, referring to the infamous serial killer Rose West. “I hate her on a cellular level.”
The TV presenter went on to claim that he is “unable to sleep” because he is “grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day she 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”.
He added: “Everyone who’s my age thinks the same way.”
Queen Camilla is now facing criticism for allegedly inviting Clarkson to her lunch. Morgan confirmed his attendance via a post on his Instagram page.
Morgan has long levelled harsh criticism against the Sussexes, particularly Meghan, who he was briefly friendly with before she met Harry. He famously left his hosting spot on Good Morning Britain after claiming he did not “believe a word Meghan said, after she opened up about having suicidal thoughts in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Author Emma Kennedy tweeted: “If Piers Morgan had levelled the layers of unhinged s*** he’s piled on Meghan on one of my family members, there isn’t a chance in hell I’d agree to attend a lunch with him. Not. A. Chance. No idea what Camilla was thinking. Unforgiveable.”
“If it’s true that Camilla just had lunch with Jeremy Clarkson this week, right before he published *that*, then well done to the lot of them for confirming everything the Harry and Meghan doco said was going on between the institution and the media over in the UK [sic],” Jess McGuire tweeted.
“Jeremy Clarkson who Camilla was lunching with this week, along with Piers Morgan. And people still doubt what Harry and Meghan were saying in their documentary? Ok. Rancid bunch,” wrote author Monisha Rajesh.
Author Omid Scobie tweeted: “That would be the same Jeremy Clarkson who was at a private Christmas party with Camilla, the Queen Consort earlier this week (alongside guests including a Daily Mail editor and Piers Morgan).”
The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
Clarkson’s column was condemned by many, including royal commentator Carol Vorderman, who tweeted: “NO Jeremy Clarkson. Not on any level, in any circumstance, is it OK to write this stuff about any woman, and absolutely NO to ‘everyone who’s my age thinks the same’.
“No no no. We absolutely do NOT think the same. Listen to the noise, Jeremy. The crowds are chanting, ‘Shame on YOU’.”
The presenter’s daughter also criticised her father for his column. Emily Clarkson took to her Instagram Stories and said in a statement: “My views are and have always been clear when it comes to misogyny, bullying and the treatment of women by the media.
“I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle and I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred.”
Clarkson’s comments come after the Sussexes’ new series, Harry and Meghan, claimed that Buckingham Palace would “feed stories [to the press] on [Meghan], whether they were true or not, to avoid other less favourable stories being printed”.
Harry recalled a statement that was released in January 2020 in both his and Prince William’s names to deny a story that accused his older brother of having a “bullying attitude”.
He claimed “no one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that” and added: “Within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”
