Donald Trump has been urged to release Prince Harry’s immigration files, amid claims that the Duke of Sussex may have lied about past illicit drug use when emigrating to the US.
A Washington-based conservative think tank has been fighting in the courts to have the Duke of Sussex’s visa documents released so they can see if he has admitted to his historic narcotic use.
Trump previously suggested Prince Harry may be deported from the US under his leadership if the Duke is found to have falsified information on his visa form – even though his wife is American and his children are dual citizens.
Harry moved to Montecito with Meghan Markle and Archie in 2020 but his 2023 memoir Spare reveals he took cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his youth.
The Heritage Foundation questioned why the Duke of Sussex was allowed into the US with his wife Meghan in 2020 following his reference to illicit drug consumption.
In the US, visa applicants must by law declare whether they have taken drugs.
As a result, the group brought a lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security after a Freedom of Information request was rejected.
Heritage claimed Harry’s document was of ‘immense public interest’ but lost the case on September 23 after judge Carl Nichols ruled it should remain private.
Samuel Dewey, a lawyer for Heritage, filed another motion in October to try to overturn the ruling, claiming that the publication of Harry’s immigration file “will help the public better understand how the Department conducts itself and how its officials exercise discretion'”
Now that the Duke of Sussex no longer has support from the Biden administration, lawyers and fellows at the Heritage Foundation are hoping the newly-elected president will override the court’s decision to keep the files secret.
‘I’ll be urging the president to release Prince Harry’s immigration records and the president does have that legal authority to do that,’ Nile Gardiner, director of Heritage’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom told the New York Post.
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’, he added.
“My firm expectation is that action will be taken”.
Speaking to British politician and broadcaster Nigel Farage on GB News last year, Trump suggested that the royal would not get ‘special privileges if he was found to have lied about his drug use.
During the interview, Farage asked Trump if Harry should enjoy ‘special privileges’ should it come to light he did not tell the truth.
“We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action,’ Trump responded.
“Appropriate action? Which might mean…not staying in America?” Farage asked.
‘Oh I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago,’ Trump replied.
Previously, the former president has said he “wouldn’t protect’ Harry because he had ‘betrayed the Queen”. Trump has also said that if he wins the election in November then Harry “would be on his own”.
In his controversial memoir, the duke said cocaine “didn’t do anything for me’, adding: ‘Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.”
He also said that while using ayahuasca, a psychedelic drug, he realised that his late mother Diana wanted him to be ‘happy’.
If the files are made public and Harry is found to have lied, he faces leaving his life in the Californian town of Montecito behind.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit their royal roles in 2020 and have been residing in the US with their two children ever since.
Following his big move, Harry’s relationship with his father King Charles and brother Prince William, has faced tensions.
This worsened after Harry and Meghan decided to participate in tell-all interviews.
Heritage Foundation’s calls come after a damning new Vanity Fair article featuring explosive claims about Harry and Meghan’s difficult behaviour towards staff came out last week.
The bombshell profile in the magazine – headlined ‘American Hustle’ – stated that the Duchess of Sussex could be ‘really, really awful’ when things did not go her way. .
Meanwhile, Vanity Fair portrayed Harry as a hapless if well-meaning man who came up with ‘crazy’ ideas such as a ‘sociopath podcast’ which would involve him interviewing people such as Russian president Vladimir Putin.
According to the magazine, the duke said: ‘I have very bad childhood trauma. Obviously. My mother was essentially murdered. What is it about me that didn’t make me one of the bad guys?’.
Earlier this month, the couple were also slammed by Justine Bateman as ‘disaster tourists’ after they appeared volunteering during the LA wildfires.
The Hollywood 58, took to X/Twitter to blast the couple after they were spotted in footage dressed in plain clothes and speaking with victims and other helpers.
The former working royals were spotted in a clip out and about at an evacuation centre – just hours before it was confirmed the death toll of the blazes had climbed to 24.
Bateman wrote online: ‘Meghan Markle and Harry are no better than ambulance chasers.
‘What a repulsive “photo op” they achieved. They are “touring the damage”? Are they politicians now?
“They don’t live here; they are tourists. Disaster Tourists.”
Video captured by Fox 11 Los Angeles showed Harry and Meghan in Pasadena mingling with volunteers and the city’s mayor, Victor Gordo.
But the couple were keen to provide any support they could, according to the mayor, saying they were ‘great people’ with ‘great personalities’.
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