Prince Harry has recently won an important legal battle, ensuring that his U.S. visa application will remain private.
The ruling came after a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, sought access to the Duke of Sussex’s immigration records to determine whether he had disclosed his past drug use, as required by law.
What Happened to Prince Harry’s US Visa?
U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols ruled that there was no strong public interest in revealing Harry’s immigration documents, emphasizing that, like any foreign national, Harry has a legitimate right to privacy regarding his visa status.
This legal fight began when the Heritage Foundation sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last year, questioning whether Harry had been truthful about his prior drug use when applying for his visa.
In his 2023 memoir, “Spare,” Harry openly discussed experimenting with cocaine, cannabis, and psychedelic mushrooms, which would have been required to be disclosed when he moved to the United States in 2020.
Although the judge acknowledged that Harry had shared intimate details of his life in his book, he maintained that the Duke still had a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding his immigration records.
Earlier this year, the DHS also denied the think tank’s request to release the visa documents, stating that the public interest was not strong enough to override Harry’s privacy rights.
Nile Gardiner, a director at the Heritage Foundation, criticized the decision, accusing the Biden administration of a lack of transparency and vowing to continue pursuing the case in court.
In his memoir, Harry admitted to using cocaine at the age of 17, describing it as an attempt “to feel different.” He also shared with Anderson Cooper in a “60 Minutes” interview that his drug use — including alcohol, marijuana, and psychedelics — was a way to cope with the emotional pain he endured following his mother Princess Diana’s death.
The Heritage Foundation claims Harry did not disclose this history of drug use on his visa application, which could potentially lead to deportation if found to be true. In fact, former President Donald Trump hinted that, if re-elected, he might consider Harry’s deportation if it’s proven that he lied on his immigration paperwork.
For now, Harry continues to reside in Montecito, California, with his wife Meghan Markle and their two children, while his visa remains a private matter protected by the courts.