Santa Barbara, California - Harry and Meghan have blasted an apology by The Sun newspaper over a shocking column attacking the Duchess of Sussex as "nothing more than a PR stunt."

The piece, in which former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson railed about "hated" Meghan, became the most complained-about article in the history of Britain's Independent Press Standards Organization regulator.

On Friday, The Sun newspaper said it regretted the publication of the column and was "sincerely sorry."

But on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said Meghan had not been contacted by the newspaper to apologize.

"This is nothing more than a PR stunt," the statement said.

"While the public absolutely deserves the publication’s regrets for their dangerous comments, we wouldn’t be in this situation if The Sun did not continue to profit off of and exploit hate, violence, and misogyny. A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all. Unfortunately, we’re not holding our breath."

In the vicious column, which The Sun said has since been removed from its archives as well as its website, Clarkson wrote that he had fantasized of Meghan being paraded through British towns naked and publicly shamed while having "lumps of excrement" thrown at her.

The comments attracted criticism from high-profile figures, politicians, and his own daughter, Emily Clarkson.

The 62-year-old later tweeted he had only made a "clumsy reference to a scene in Game Of Thrones, adding that he was "horrified to have caused so much hurt."

In its statement, The Sun said: "Columnists’ opinions are their own, but as a publisher we realize that with free expression comes responsibility. We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry."

The outburst followed the recent broadcast of Harry and Meghan’s explosive six-part Netflix documentary, in which the couple made bombshell allegations of mistreatment by the royal family.

The first three episodes saw Meghan accuse the British media of wanting to "destroy" her and claim "salacious" stories were "planted" in the press.

Meghan successfully sued the publisher of The Mail on Sunday after the tabloid published parts of a personal letter to her father, Thomas Markle.