A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has labelled the Sun’s apology over Jeremy Clarkson’s column as “nothing more than a PR stunt”.
In the column, which became the most complained-about article of all time, the former Top Gear presenter said he “hated” Meghan and had dreamed of her being paraded through British towns and publicly shamed, adding “everyone who’s my age thinks the same way”.
On Friday The Sun newspaper issued an apology.
On Saturday a spokesperson for Meghan and Harry said: “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.”
The column rapidly became the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s (Ipso) most complained-about article of all time, attracting criticism from high-profile figures, politicians, and his own daughter.
The Sun said in its apology: “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.”
Press watchdog Ipso said the piece had received a record of more than 17,500 complaints as of 9am on Tuesday – rising to 20,800 by 5pm.
Following the furious backlash Clarkson, 62, said he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt”.
The Sun removed the article from its website on Monday, posting: “In light of Jeremy Clarkson’s tweet, he has asked us to take last week’s column down.”
The column followed the broadcast of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s explosive six-part Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan earlier this month, in which the couple made allegations of mistreatment by the royal family.
