Buckingham Palace still hasn’t condemned Jeremy Clarkson’s violent rhetoric

The Jeremy Clarkson story went viral over the weekend, like a perfect companion piece to both Netflix’s Harry & Meghan AND the Ngozi Fulani story. All of these stories are about the institutional racism of the monarchy, their (in)visible contract with the British media, their violent, racist, misogynistic rhetoric against women of color and the lack of accountability to simply do better. Clarkson wrote a column in the Sun where he projected a violent fantasy of stripping the Duchess of Sussex naked and parading her down the street while people threw sh-t at her. It’s not enough that Clarkson wrote that vile, violent fantasy, it’s that his editors at the Sun thought it was A-OK to publish it. Not only that, there has been zero accountability at the Sun, or in the British media. To make matters worse, Clarkson wrote that violent, misogynistic screed just hours after he had lunch with Queen Camilla and Piers Morgan (another violent misogynist obsessed with Meghan).

So, yeah. The Clarkson column was published last Friday in the Sun. It made the rounds all weekend. Camilla’s office has had no comment thus far, because the whole point of this exercise is that the king and queen have made it perfectly clear that they love it when the media abuses Prince Harry and Meghan. Camilla’s silence is explicitly and implicitly cosigning her friend Jeremy Clarkson’s work. There has been reaction from other journalists, editors and British celebrities and public figures. I’m including some below. At the time that I’m writing this (Monday morning), there has been zero comment from the palace.

Update: Clarkson posted this tweet, which is a half-assed non-apology for inciting violence against a woman of color.

Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. 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. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) December 19, 2022

WTF is this ??

I don’t care who you are or who you work for you simply can not write things like this. It is a blatant appeal to incite humiliation and violence on a woman. Some have excused it as dark humour. There is mo joke here @JeremyClarkson and no excuse. https://t.co/ewU8bnykhj

— John Bishop (@JohnBishop100) December 18, 2022

As Jeremy Clarkson should well know – words have consequences. The words in his piece are no joke – they’re dangerous and inexcusable. We are in an epidemic of violence against women and girls and men with powerful voices must do better than this. https://t.co/TXq8XndPec

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) December 18, 2022

Women In Journalism is revolted by the misogynistic & bullying comments made by Jeremy Clarkson about the Duchess of Sussex. The brutal, graphic & derogatory language used was entirely unacceptable.

We stand in support of all women who are targets of abuse and hate within media.

— Women in Journalism (@WIJ_UK) December 18, 2022

The recent article by Jeremy Clarkson is genuinely scary territory, WE cannot look away or be indifferent to this type of hate.

We have to be better than this. pic.twitter.com/pJo32xwXU4

— Misan Harriman (@misanharriman) December 18, 2022

Jeremy Clarkson.His wonderful daughter Emily has just put out a statement on her instagram account. “I stand against everything that my Dad wrote about Meghan Markle”. FYI Emily has spoken many times about how she suffered very badly from online abuse when she was younger. ???? pic.twitter.com/pcVUgvlQQ0

— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) December 18, 2022

This ‘hatred’ Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson claim to feel for Meghan Markle- while lying awake at night imaging her naked- is overt sexual obsession. It’s staggering that this is being played out publicly.

— Sarah Kendall (@Sarah_Kendall) December 18, 2022

Where is the @RoyalFamily statement on @JeremyClarkson’s vile comments in his column?

I thought the Queen Consort was outspoken on issues of misogyny?

Will she distance herself from Clarkson…or just invite him round for dinner again?

Their silence speaks volumes. pic.twitter.com/WIJbwqgHY7

— Nicola Thorp ?? (@nicolathorp_) December 18, 2022

Don’t really care about any of the royals, but the fact that Camilla invited Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan to a party after they’d both been so vocal in their opinion of Meghan Markle kind of proves that everything said in the Harry & Meghan doc is absolutely true, doesn’t it?

— Bostoniano Improprio (@ImproperBoston1) December 18, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.