Prince Harry‘s US visa application is set to return under the spotlight.
An American think tank called The Heritage Foundation has reopened its case to have Prince Harry’s immigration papers made public after they believe he may have been unfairly granted entry into the US. And a lawsuit aiming at the release of the secret documents will have its first court hearing since Donald Trump took office next month.
The think tank began calling for this after the prince revealed in his 2023 memoir Spare that he had previously taken cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, with the group alleging the duke may have lied about his drug use on his visa application or may have been protected by the previous Biden administration.
While The Heritage Foundation lost its previous case against the Department for Homeland Security in September to try and get Harry’s visa documents made public, the group is not backing down, with a new court hearing date now confirmed.
Lawyers for the think tank and Harry, 40, have been ordered by Judge Carl J Nichols – who previously said the visa documents should remain private – to meet at a federal court in Washington DC on February 5, according to a ruling seen by Newsweek.
This will be the first hearing into the case under Donald Trump’s administration.
Nile Gardiner, director of Heritage’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told the celebrity.land: “I’ll be urging the president to release Prince Harry‘s immigration records and the president does have that legal authority to do that.
“Donald Trump is ushering in a new era of strict border control enforcement, and you know, Prince Harry should be held fully to account as he has admitted to extensive illegal drug use.”
It is not known whether the duke admitted his previous drug usage on his visa applications, something which must be declared by US law.
The duke has been living in the country for the last five years since quitting life as a senior royal with his wife Meghan Markle, 43, in 2020. The couple live in a Montecito mansion with their children Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
Harry has expressed a desire to continue living in his wife’s home country of America. However, the return to the White House of Donald Trump could make the US a more hostile environment for the royal, as the president previously said he would not protect Harry if it turns out he lied on his visa documents.
The President is believed to not be a fan of the couple and made this very clear after they quit life as senior royals.
Before he was re-elected, Mr Trump told the Express US: “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
