Prince Harry’s private US visa files are set to be released today, after a US court ordered the documents to be made public amid concerns about comments he previously made.
District Judge Carl Nichols ordered the release of Harry’s immigration files as part of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, giving the deadline of Tuesday 18 March.
It follows allegations from the conservative Heritage Foundation that the royal may not have told the full truth when he applied for his visa – something that the US takes very seriously.
Why are Prince Harry’s visa files being released?
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, DC, has accused Harry of lying about his past drug use on his application, basing this off of comments he made in his 2023 memoir Spare.
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All applications for visas to live in the US ask about historical drug use, with applicants running the risk of having their case rejected if they admit to anything.
If you don't tell the truth, as Harry is accused of doing, people face a lifetime ban on entering the country.
What did Prince Harry say about drugs?
In his memoir, Harry recalled how he first tried cocaine at the age of 17, writing: "It wasn't much fun, and it didn't make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me, but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal.”
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While cocaine ‘didn’t do anything’ for him, but found marijuana was ‘different’.
“That actually really did help me,” Harry explained.
Could Prince Harry get deported?
Harry and wife Meghan decided to settle down in California after their shock split from the Royal Family, but will they be allowed to stay?
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If it’s just down to US President Donald Trump, it looks like he’s safe for now.
Last month, Trump suggested that he wouldn’t send Harry packing anytime soon, telling The New York Post: "I'll leave him alone."
He added: "He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible."
However, in a GB News interview with Nigel Farage last March, he also argued that Harry shouldn’t have any preferential treatment.
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He said: "No. We'll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they'll have to take appropriate action."
CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson said the issue here is not the drug use itself, but whether or not Harry has lied.
"There's a lot of discretion that the government has, but merely admitting to drug use very often is not disqualifying from entering the country, but lying about drug use can be more serious and potentially could be disqualifying,” she explained.
Topics: Prince Harry, Royal Family, US News, Donald Trump, Meghan Markle
Jess Hardiman