Key Points
- Jeremy Clarkson has issued an apology on Instagram for a column he wrote about Meghan Markle in The Sun.
- In the column, Clarkson said he fantasised about crowds hurling excrement at Markle.
- On Monday, Clarkson said he was "very angry" with himself after the "horrible" column was published.
Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has apologised for a column he wrote in The Sun tabloid saying he "hated" Prince Harry's wife Meghan Markle.
In December, Clarkson wrote that he dreamed of the day when Markle "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".
The piece triggered a wave of protest and became the United Kingdom Independent Press Standards Organisation's most complained-about article.
"I really am sorry ... this is me putting my hands up. It's a mea culpa with bells on," Clarkson wrote on Instagram on Monday.
In his apology, Clarkson said he had sent his column to The Sun without reading it out to anyone - as he usually does - and only realised later that what he had written was "horrible".
"I abhor violence against women," he added but conceded the column "seemed to be advocating for just that".
In the column, commenting on Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary series, Clarkson said of Meghan: "I hate her on a cellular level".
In a television interview broadcast on 8 January, Harry said the column was "horrific and ... hurtful and cruel towards my wife".
He also said it encouraged misogyny around the world.
Clarkson gained global fame by presenting the popular BBC motoring show "Top Gear" but was dropped as host in 2015 for assaulting a male producer.
He now makes a similar show for Amazon, as well as a documentary series about farming.
Known for his provocative columns often espousing right-wing political views, the presenter also claimed that in the column, he had been referring to a scene from the "Game of Thrones" series.
But he said he forgot to specify this.
The Sun in late December said it was "sincerely sorry" for the publication and had removed the column from its website and archive.
Harry and Meghan said on Christmas Eve that the tabloid had not been in touch with them directly, slamming the newspaper's statement on its website as "nothing more than a PR stunt".
Clarkson said Monday he emailed the couple on Christmas Day to apologise, telling them "the language I'd used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry".
He vowed to try to be "vigilant" in future, saying he may switch to writing about becoming a grandfather.
