A spokeswoman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has said an apology by The Sun newspaper over a column in which Jeremy Clarkson said he "hated" Meghan is "nothing more than a PR stunt".
The statement from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's team comes as The Sun apologise for the controversial column from the former Top Gear presenter, 62, and claim they regret publishing the piece.
A statement from a spokesperson for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared with the PA news agency on Saturday, reads: "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. While the public absolutely deserves the publication’s regrets for their dangerous comments, we wouldn’t be in this situation if The Sun did not continue to profit off of and exploit hate, violence and misogyny.
"A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all.
"Unfortunately, we’re not holding our breath."
Ipso say the piece, which was taken offline on Monday at Clarkson’s request, had received more than 17,500 complaints as of 9am on Tuesday 20 December – rising to 20,800 by 5pm.
Clarkson broke his silence regarding the backlash on social media on Monday but failed to apologise to Meghan personally, after sharing how he hates the former Suits actress "on a cellular level" and wants her to be "paraded naked through the streets".
The Grand Tour host, 62, wrote in his now-deleted newspaper column for The Sun how he "dreams of people throwing lumps of excrement at her" in the insensitive spew of hatred towards Meghan – who he has never met.
A week on from the column first being published in print and online, The Sun now say: "In last Saturday’s Sun, Jeremy Clarkson wrote a comment article about the Duchess of Sussex.
"It provoked a strong response and led to a large number of complaints to IPSO, the independent press regulator.
"In a tweet earlier this week, Jeremy said he had made a “clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones”, which had “gone down badly with a great many people” and he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt”. He also said he will be more careful in future.
"Columnists’ opinions are their own, but as a publisher, we realise that with free expression comes responsibility.
"We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry. The article has been removed from our website and archives."
Earlier this week, Clarkson hinted he was 'feeling the full force' of the backlash to his vile comments.
The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? presenter - who attended an event the Queen Consort was present at last week - liked a tweet addressing the backlash towards his rant about the mum-of-two.
The tweet shared by Twitter user @Quiches8 reads: "It is a democracy and people are speaking about the disgust they feel at his language. That it is the majority of people that are revolted by it. Is just how democracy works and he is feeling the full force of it."
Clarkson's Twitter account liked the tweet after being tagged in a discussion on Twitter following his statement on Monday.
Amid the huge backlash to his column - including MPs calling for ITV to sack the TV star - Clarkson took to Twitter and told his followers: "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."
In one of the replies to Clarkson's tweet, one Twitter user shared an extract from one of the star's previous columns for The Sun and asked him: "Was this part a scene in the Games of Thrones? You wrote an entire article about Meghan dying prior to this article."
In the extract, Clarkson wrote: "When she dies, hopefully many years from now, she will not be carried in front of millions by stoic men with good hearts and strong arms.
"If it’s a slow news day, the best she’ll get is a small obituary in The Times on Page 27."
The extract was taken from another of Clarkson's columns for The Sun, published in September this year following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
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