British press regulator to investigate Clarkson column on Meghan Markle

LONDON: Britain's press regulator said on Thursday it would investigate a column by TV personality Jeremy Clarkson on wife Meghan Markle.

The opinion piece, published in December and since withdrawn by the Sun, drew widespread condemnation from members of the public, politicians, Clarkson's employers and even his own daughter after he wrote that he hated Meghan on a "cellular level".

Clarkson and the Sun, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, have apologised over the article but Britain's Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) said it was launching an investigation based on complaints from two women's charities - the Fawcett Society and the Wilde Foundation.

Clarkson's column has become the most complained-about article for IPSO, which said it had now received more than 25,100 complaints from members of the public.

IPSO, financed by a company funded by member publications, can require publishers to publish corrections if they are found to be falling short of standards and fine them up to 1 million pounds ($1.2 million) in serious and systemic cases. (Reuters)