Jeremy Clarkson "horrified to have caused so much hurt" following backlash to scathing column about Meghan Markle

British television presenter Jeremy Clarkson said Monday he is "horrified to have caused so much hurt" with a scathing column about Prince Harry's wife, Meghan, that attracted a flood of complaints.

Clarkson, who hosts motoring show "The Grand Tour" on Amazon, wrote in tabloid newspaper The Sun that he hated Meghan Markle "on a cellular level" and dreamed of her being paraded naked through British towns "while the crowds chant 'Shame!' and throw lumps of excrement at her."

Media watchdog the Independent Press Standards Organization said it had received more than 12,000 complaints about the column by Monday — close to the total number of complaints it received in all of 2021.