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Prince Harry’s US Visa in Jeopardy After Admitting to Drug Use
A US federal judge has ordered Homeland Security to submit records about Prince Harry’s visa for court review after the Biden administration refused to provide them to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think group, under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Heritage Foundation has sued the agency, claiming that it has a right to access the documents as part of its investigation into whether Harry was improperly permitted to stay in the United States, given his statements in his 2023 biography and elsewhere that he used cocaine and other drugs.
The organization wanted the records particularly to explore how the prince was admitted, as certain visas that allowed him to enter the United States require applicants to answer questions regarding previous drug usage and drug-related legal crimes.
Judge Carl Nichols of the United States District Court in Washington ordered the department to submit the documents in question for his confidential examination to determine whether they should be disseminated in any form.
The idea that the prince hid his drug usage while seeking a visa might have serious immigration ramifications, and any waivers he could have received would have been barred because of the extent of the drug use he disclosed in public interviews and his biography.
“Widespread and continuous media coverage has surfaced the question of whether DHS properly admitted the Duke of Sussex in light of the fact that he has publicly admitted to the essential elements of a number of drug offences in both the United States and abroad,” the lawyers for the foundation wrote in their original complaint.
The complaint mentioned numerous other examples in which celebrities and public figures, like football great Diego Maradona and singer Amy Winehouse, encountered immigration complications or were denied entrance due to purported drug usage.
The legal issue began in May when the department denied the Heritage Foundation’s request, claiming it was “too broad in scope.” However, it did not immediately dismiss the request but instead urged the think group to resubmit with more specific records for consideration.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, lived in California before his memoir, Spare, was published.
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle is planning a total image change in the United Kingdom and is “looking for a new PR expert in Britain”. Since retiring from major royal duties in 2020, the Duchess of Sussex has lived in California with her husband, Prince Harry, and their two children.
The Montecito-based royals’ ‘Megxit’ saw them try to figure out a new existence away from the Firm, which prompted the beginning of high-profile interviews, including that famous sit-down with Oprah Winfrey.
Then, this year, Harry issued his book Spare, which contained a slew of shocking allegations about members of his family. Relations between him and his brother, Prince William, are still strained.
However, with Prince Harry’s recent brief travel to London to meet his father, King Charles, following a cancer diagnosis, there has been speculation that he, Meghan, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, will return across the Atlantic.
The Mail reports that the Duchess of Sussex seeks “professional help to gain positive publicity” for herself and the Sussexes’ foundation, Archewell.
It has long been assumed that the Sussexes would relaunch their brand in 2024, following a stormy 2023 that saw the end of the Archetypes podcast on Spotify.
