Prince Harry's US visa application to remain sealed, judge rules
Prince Harry's US visa application details will remain private, a judge has ruled.
Prince Harry's US visa application will remain sealed, a court ruled on Monday (23.09.24).
Despite the Duke of Sussex, 40, admitting to taking drugs in his memoir 'Spare', judge Carl Nichols decided that "the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the Duke’s immigration records."
He explained: "Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.
"And the Duke’s public statements about his travel and drug use did not disclose, and therefore did not eliminate his interest in keeping private, specific information regarding his immigration status, applications, or other materials."
In March, it was revealed Harry’s immigration papers were to be scoured by a judge.
Sensitive material relating to his move to the States were released to Nichols after he ordered the US Department of Homeland Security to hand them over for his review while he decided whether to make them public.
The judge’s move came after the official told the DHS its arguments in the case so far were “insufficiently detailed” for him to decide at the time.
A month earlier, judge Nichols heard from the DHS and the Heritage Foundation, which wanted to release the material as part of a Freedom of Information request it filed last year.
The think tank believes Harry could have lied about taking drugs in his immigration paperwork despite admitting to taking cocaine and marijuana in his tell-all tome and talking about his use of drugs on his and his wife's Netflix show 'Harry and Meghan'.
If he did lie, he could risk removal from the US or be barred by a border agent.
In April, Harry - who sensationally quit royal duties and Britain in 2020 to move to America with his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 43 - officially declared the US his new home.
The royal – who has Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, with former ‘Suits’ actress Meghan - updated his records in the UK to make clear he’s no longer a resident of Britain, as reported by the Daily Mail.
On Companies House, a filing for his eco travel venture Travalyst was made for a “Prince Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex”.
It stated that his New Country/State Usually Resident” is now America – when it was previously recorded as the UK.
