The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, has expressed his commitment to remaining in the United States, despite potential challenges to his visa status following Donald Trump’s re-election.
Since 2020, Prince Harry, 40, and his wife Meghan Markle have resided in Montecito, California, and he has stated that they will continue to live in the country, where he and his children, Archie-Harrison Mountbatten and Princess Lilibet, “very much enjoy living”.
Speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit, Prince Harry highlighted the benefits of living in the US, citing the ability to engage in activities with his children that he “undoubtedly wouldn’t be able to do in the UK”. He emphasized his focus on being a devoted husband and father, stating, “I very much enjoy living here and bringing up my kids here.”
Prince Harry has made few visits to the UK since relocating nearly five years ago, primarily returning for significant events such as Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and tributes to his late mother, Princess Diana.
However, his presence in the US has faced criticism from the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has questioned his visa status, citing passages from his 2023 memoir Spare, in which he discusses his use of marijuana, cocaine, and psychedelic mushrooms.
The Heritage Foundation had constructed a lawsuit, requesting a US judge to disclose whether Prince Harry had officially admitted to drug use, as such admissions can potentially disrupt visa applications.
The foundation contended that such an admission “generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry” into the US. However, in September, US Judge Carl Nichols ruled that the general public “does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records”, reports the Mirror.
He further stated: “Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.”
Judge Nichols concluded that the public’s interest in disclosing Prince Harry’s immigration records is “outweighed by the duke’s privacy interest”. The foundation has since filed a new court document in an attempt to reopen the case, arguing that the Biden administration did not permit attorneys to view private submissions to the judge.
Nile Gardiner, the director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, recently suggested that following the election of Donald Trump, “we will see the release of Harry’s records by the next US administration”.
