If Prince Harry’s American visa is annulled, he would have to leave the country without delay.
His wife would then have to decide whether to go with him, taking their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
That’s the painful reality the Prince faces if a judge in Washington orders the publication of his visa application form and it shows that he lied in answer to the question: “Do you or have you ever taken illegal drugs or been a drug addict?”
Ticking the “Yes” box would disqualify any ordinary person applying for an American visa.
In his ghost-written autobiography “Spare”, the fifth in line to the British throne writes about repeatedly smoking “weed” — cannabis – trying cocaine and ingesting magic mushrooms.
The United States invigilates immigration rigorously. Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson was banned from flying to the U.S. in 2014 because she had previously confessed to smoking cannabis and taking cocaine.
Now, The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing pressure group, is challenging the Department of Homeland Security to release the Prince’s documentation as a matter of “immense public interest”.
In egalitarian America, which broke from the British Crown in 1776, there is a fundamental belief in equal justice for all before the law. That means no special favours for anyone, however wealthy, titled or well-connected.
Homeland Security’s lawyer John Bardo argued that admissions in a book are not proof of anything. “The book isn’t sworn testimony”, he said, adding, “Saying something in a book doesn’t necessarily make it true”.
While this is undeniably the case, it is a strong circumstantial evidence and, as The Heritage Foundation’s director Nile Gardiner, pointed out, Harry “has never denied anything in his own book…including extensive widespread drug use”.
What is equally undeniable is that it was extremely foolish of the Prince to make admissions of criminal behaviour within the hard covers of “Spare”, especially as he was already living in California when his book was published in January last year.
If Heritage Foundation wins its case — and the Prince is found to have ticked “No” to the drug use question – the consequences would be severe.
Plans of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to build a multi-million dollar media business from their hilltop Camelot north of Los Angeles would be thrown into confusion if not wrecked.
Appeals against the denial of a visa would normally be mounted from outside America. Unless special dispensation were given, the Prince would have to leave America.
But where to? Canada, where the couple lived before settling in California, would not welcome the security costs that would accompany a non-working member of the Royal Family on an extended stay.
Britain? He has been burning bridges to his home ever since he and Meghan left in a hurry with their newly-born son Prince Archie.
The King has made clear that his second son will always be welcome. But will the British people feel the same? Unlikely, with two-thirds in a recent survey expressing dislike of his wife.
Two things are certain: 1. a return to Britain in such circumstances would be a grave humiliation to Prince Harry and 2. his older brother Prince William would not be at the “Welcome Home” reception.
