In the latest weekend of trash published by British tabloid The Sun, presenter Jeremy Clarkson has published a tirade of hateful garbage towards Meghan Markle, on the heels of her and Harry’s Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan. Airing last week, the couple told their side of the story of the last few years, including the symbiotic relationship between the British royal family and the press, one that had turned particularly hateful towards Meghan.
Because he apparently cannot keep a single thought to himself, Clarkson took to The Sun to pen a lengthy opinion piece about what Meghan had done wrong, in his eyes. Notable ‘highlights’ included saying he cannot wait for the day that she would be paraded through the streets naked and have excrement thrown at her, as well as comparing the Duchess to Rose West, an English serial killer who killed a string of young women and a child.
I won’t go into many more details about the vitriol that Clarkson threw at Meghan Markle, but safe to say it’s full of hateful and downright misogynistic language. He suggests that Meghan has essentially manipulated Harry away from his family using sexual favors and blames her for the media storm that drove her and her family from the UK.
Clarkson’s column and his follow-up, half-hearted apology (if you can even call it that) have drummed up an outpouring of support for Meghan on Twitter and more than 6,000 official complaints levelled against the newspaper—as well as sadly a large number of people applauding his words at the same time. In fact, Jeremy Clarkson’s own daughter shared a statement on Instagram Stories distancing herself from her father’s words and expressing solidarity for Meghan’s experiences.
Ironically, the type of opinions expressed by Clarkson only serves up more proof for Meghan and Harry’s claims in their docuseries. The couple laid out their side of the story, highlighting that certain other members of the royal family (implied to be Prince William, the current heir to the throne) had served up negative stories about Meghan to avoid being slammed in the press themselves. This began a long-standing practice in the British press and even abroad, as papers realized that negative articles about Meghan would sell—and make enormous amounts of money.
Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and sister website MailOnline, even used an ongoing legal case between themselves and Meghan Markle to try and extract more personal information about her and her family from her phone and accounts. It’s therefore telling that, just days after Meghan and Harry attempted to set the record straight, the press (namely The Sun) is back to the same tactics in using shock headlines and emotions running high around the royal family to put cash in their pockets.
While it may feel like vindication to see Meghan and Harry’s point demonstrated so clearly, it doesn’t help much to change the state of the British press. Speaking as a Brit and a journalist working in the UK, it’s sad to see the number of quality media publications drop rapidly and independent journalists struggling, but publications like The Mail and The Sun continue to thrive by fostering hate on their websites. At least the article did stir up some modicum of support for Meghan—but the problem won’t truly have gone away until disgusting opinions like Clarkson’s don’t see the light of day in the first place.
(featured image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
