WELSH Health Minister Vaughan Gething has described Piers Morgan’s comments about the Duchess of Sussex as “wholly unacceptable”.

Morgan left the popular breakfast show after an on-air row with a colleague who criticised him for “continuing to trash” the duchess, after earlier this week saying he “didn’t believe a word” of Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview.

The complaint is understood to focus on how Morgan’s comments may affect the issue of mental health generally and those attempting to deal with their own problems.

ITV bosses had asked Morgan to apologise to the duchess during Tuesday’s show but he refused, the Telegraph reported.

On Wednesday, Mr Gething told a press conference in Cardiff where he was asked about the situation and how it could be damaging to those suffering mentally due to lockdown restrictions across the UK.

He said: “I thought Piers Morgan’s comments about not believing what Meghan Markle had to say about her mental health was wholly unacceptable, incredibly unkind and exactly where we should not be in public debate and discourse.

“We’ve won lots of ground by talking and being more open about mental health challenges, not just in Wales but across the UK.

“I think the comments and the tone of them I think would have set a number of people back and that highly judgmental approach is really unhealthy and unhelpful.”

Mr Gething said people had experienced “real challenges” with their mental health, some for the first time, during the coronavirus lockdown.

“For him to deny without any knowledge or understanding really of what was happening in that family relationship, and to say that he didn’t believe her in particular about the suicidal thoughts she said she’d had, I thought that was damaging and unacceptable,” he added.

“I obviously wish Piers Morgan well in the rest of his life wherever it takes him. I hope that we can all learn something from this about how we behave and use the platforms of influence and power that we each have.”