Photo: Facebook

A German confectionery company has apologized for tweeting a picture of a chocolate-covered marshmallow dressed up as bride Meghan Markle at her wedding to Prince Harry.

A spokesman for Dickmann's Schokokuesse, a popular sweet in Germany especially among children, apologized for the picture depicting Markle, who has an African-American mother, as a chocolate-covered marshmallow with a crown, a white dress and wedding bouquet.

The company deleted the tweet but top-selling Bild newspaper reprinted it Wednesday, adding fuel to the controversy.

The chocolate marshmallow was linked in the past to racism, being widely known as the "Negerkuss" or "negro kiss" in Germany until about 20 years ago.

Company spokesman Bernd Roessler said Tuesday, the picture was "stupid and embarrassing," German news agency dpa reported.