Broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson has said he is “horrified” after “causing so much hurt” in a column he wrote in the Sun about the Duchess of Sussex.
More than 12,000 complaints have been made to the press regulator after Clarkson wrote on Friday that he “hated [Meghan] on a cellular level”.
In a tweet on Monday, he said: “Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it.”
The column has now been removed from the Sun’s website, at Clarkson’s request, and replaced with his tweet.
In his message to followers, posted on Monday, described a reference he made to a scene in Game of Thrones as “clumsy”.
“I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future,” he said.
“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.
“Ipso, the independent press standards organisation, told BBC News the complaints were being assessed in accordance with its standard procedure.
Nearly 21,000 complaints have been made to Ipso so far, making it the organisation’s most complained about article. The Sun told BBC News on Monday it did not have anything further to add. (BBC)