Prince Harry’s US visa row has taken a dramatic new twist after a judge left open the possibility of releasing some of the sealed documents from his application.
Secret records revealing details of the Duke of Sussex’s visa status in the US are currently sealed.
However, in a hearing in Washington D.C. earlier today, the Judge Carl Nichols said: “I’m not foreclosing the possibility that there might be some possible relief.”
He asked Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security to provide requests for redactions or ‘continued withholdings’.
The judge added he wanted the “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn’t violate privacy”.
It will be a test of whether Trump will force through a change of stance at the department in charge of immigration, which so far refused to hand over Harry’s records.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, sued Biden’s Department of Homeland Security demanding access to Prince Harry’s visa documents to determine whether he made false statements in his application.
In September 2024, Judge Nichols ruled that Harry’s records would remain private. He said: “Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.”
Harry admitted in his bombshell memoir, Spare, that he experimented with cocaine and other drugs which he would have been required to disclose on forms filed before moving to the US with Meghan Markle.
In his controversial memoir, the prince said cocaine “didn’t do anything for me”, adding: “Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.”
Trump has previously said he would consider deporting Harry if he had lied in his application, saying that officials would “have to take appropriate action”.
“I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me,” Trump said in February last year, as reported in Express US.
He also previously vowed, before he was elected, that “Harry is on his own” if he became president again.
Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive Show, News.com.au’s royal reporter Bronte Coy said: “The new US President has made no secret about his position on it. He’s been asked about it so many times over the years. I genuinely believe Donald Trump has much more important things to be dealing with.”
She added: “But it’s probably something that’s not going away especially as it continues to get this attention.
“I think that in itself will be concerning because The Heritage Foundation, who is the one pushing to have the application made public, has also lobbied and urged Donald Trump to intervene.”