Military charity Help for Heroes has distanced itself from former patron Jeremy Clarkson amid an ongoing row about his abuse of the Duchess of Sussex.
The charity said it wrote yesterday to Clarkson, who was a founding patron of Help for Heroes in 2007, and ruled out working with him again in the future because of the controversy.
Over the weekend Clarkson used his column in The Sun newspaper to say that he hated Markle so much she should be “made to parade naked through the streets”, leading MPs to protest that the column could contribute to violence against women.
The charity told Third Sector that Clarkson has not been actively involved with the organisation “for some time”.
In the article, which was published on Saturday but then deleted from The Sun’s website, Clarkson said of Markle: “I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.”
He added that he was “dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”.
This morning Caroline Nokes MP, chair of parliament’s Women and Equalities Select Committee, wrote to The Sun, saying that “hateful articles” like Clarkson’s “directly contribute” to abuse and violence towards women and asking for reassurances that similar pieces would not be published in the future.
A spokesperson for the charity said: “Help for Heroes does not share the views aired by Jeremy Clarkson in his recent column and his comments do not align with the values of our charity.
“While Mr Clarkson was involved during the early days of Help for Heroes in 2007, he hasn’t been an active patron for some time.
“We have since written to Mr Clarkson and we will not be working with him in the future.”
Clarkson has not apologised for his words but he did say yesterday: “I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.”