An Irish priest who made global headlines after telling Catholics to watch Meghan Markle’s "bloody awful" Netflix series as penance for Lent has refused to apologise for his diatribe against the Duchess of Sussex.
Instead, Fr Brendan Kilcoyne targeted her "lacklustre" acting career in a second tirade, and suggested she should return to royal duties in search of her "niche".
"Because believe me, girl," he said, addressing the Duchess, "it ain’t making cookery programmes."
The priest’s initial remarks on the Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, which were first reported by the Irish Mirror, made headlines as far away as Australia, with critics describing his comments as uncharitable and "too hard" on a young person.
Fr Kilcoyne branded the show "bloody awful" as well as referring to Prince Harry as Meghan’s "deluded noggins of a husband", and said the British royal family had had a "narrow escape" when the couple cut ties with the monarchy.
The global coverage and backlash to his video on YouTube prompted the priest to publish a second clip, in which he doubled down on his scathing criticism of Meghan and her cookery show.
"I was genuinely taken aback at the very powerful reaction," he said, noting that his comments had been the subject of coverage by Sky News in Australia.
Fr Kilcoyne noted that some people were "a bit annoyed" with him and claimed he was "jumping on the bandwagon" by "walloping" the Duchess.
However, he argued that Meghan had "caused holy hell" within the royal family, and greatly set back its work.
"I’m not going to say sorry because I’m not sorry,” he insisted. “I feel I have every right to comment on it," adding that the royal family were also spiritual leaders, as King Charles is the head of the Church of England.
"Yes, she’s a young person. Yes, she may be trying her best, but her best so far isn’t good enough," continued Fr Kilcoyne, who is the parish priest in Balla, Co Mayo.
"She’s probably doing the wrong things. I mean, why pursue an acting career that was lacklustre to say the least? Why be obsessed with that in her present position?"
He suggested that Meghan would be better off devoting her time to charity, and described the "fortune" she was paid to make With Love, Meghan as a "waste of money".
He acknowledged that some people had felt he was too harsh on her, but he insisted that “she got into the boxing ring here”, and said priests cannot be gentle all of the time.
In support of this argument, Fr Kilcoyne said the prophets had been no "bundle of cuddles" or "teddy bears", and Jesus Christ was "as tough as nails on occasion", saying George Foreman and Muhammad Ali "had nothing on him".
He admitted that he could have been nicer in his video, and undertook to try harder, but added that "in the meantime, the series is still going to be cat".
"What I’m saying is, Meghan, a stór [my darling], this cannot go on… You made a choice originally. Tack into the wind and find your niche there because, believe me, girl, it ain’t making cookery programmes."