Prince Harry’s U.S. visa records are set to be made public today after a court ruled in favor of their release, following concerns over past statements he made.
District Judge Carl Nichols approved the disclosure of Harry’s immigration documents in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, setting a deadline of Tuesday, March 18.
This decision comes after the conservative Heritage Foundation raised allegations that the royal may not have been completely truthful on his visa application—an issue the U.S. government takes very seriously.
Why are Prince Harry’s visa files being released?
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC, has claimed that Prince Harry may have misrepresented his past drug use on his U.S. visa application. Their concerns stem from admissions he made in his 2023 memoir, Spare.
When applying for a U.S. visa, all applicants are required to disclose any history of drug use, which can lead to rejection if they admit to it.
If someone is found to have provided false information—something Harry is accused of—they could face a lifetime ban from entering the country.
What did Prince Harry say about drugs?
In his memoir, Prince Harry shared that he first experimented with cocaine at 17, admitting: “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.”
He went on to say that while cocaine “didn’t do anything” for him, he had a different experience with marijuana.
“That actually really did help me,” Harry explained.
Could Prince Harry Face Deportation?
After their unexpected departure from the Royal Family, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chose to settle in California—but will they be able to stay?
For now, it seems unlikely that Harry will be forced to leave, at least according to former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speaking to The New York Post last month, Trump said, “I’ll leave him alone.” He then added, “He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
However, in a GB News interview with Nigel Farage last March, Trump also made it clear that Harry shouldn’t receive special treatment. He stated, “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 explained that the real issue isn’t Harry’s past drug use, but whether he was truthful about it on his visa application.
“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,” she said. “But lying about drug use can be more serious and potentially could be disqualifying.”