Investigation launched into Jeremy Clarkson article about Meghan Markle

An investigation has been launched by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) into Jeremy Clarkson’s article in The Sun about the Duchess of Sussex.

The regulator said it was taking forward complaints from two groups, The Fawcett Society and The Wilde Foundation, which said they were affected by breaches of Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause 3 (Harassment) and Clause 12 (Discrimination) in the article.

The column, which became Ipso’s most complained-about article after its publication and received more than 25,100 complaints, was also published online on The Sun’s website and later removed.

Clarkson later apologised, and said he had “completely messed up” and that he had emailed the couple on Christmas Day to apologise.

The former Top Gear presenter co-hosts the Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour and a documentary series Clarkson’s Farm. He took over hosting the ITV gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2018.

In the piece, he said he was “dreaming of the day when [Meghan] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”.

Clarkson’s comments were widely criticised and his daughter, Emily, said: “I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything my dad wrote about Meghan Markle.”

The Duke of Sussex branded the article about his wife “horrific, hurtful and cruel” during an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby to discuss his autobiography, adding that what Clarkson had written would encourage people around the world to believe it is an acceptable way to treat women.