Prince Harry’s US visa application is being addressed in the US court system today, and depending on the outcome, he could find himself back in the UK, says one US attorney.
The Department of Homeland Security is being asked by The Heritage Foundation to reveal Harry’s immigration records and what his answers were to the drug use questions listed in the application form.
Harry himself is not on trial, but his words are. The Heritage Foundation is concerned that Harry was given special treatment, and allowed into the country, when in fact he has used drugs before, as outlined in his 2023 memoir Spare.
There are two questions at hand, the first one being, did Harry lie on his application? And the second question, is the Department of Homeland Security obliged to make that information public?
Daily Express spoke to US-based, celebrity lawyer, Christopher Melcher, who said: “The bigger problem is if he checked the box, ‘no,’ and he did that, and knew that it was a lie, then he could be, and he probably should be, deported, for lying on the form.”
“And like many things in life, it’s not the act of doing something that gets you in trouble, it’s lying about it, that is more serious, so that’s where I think it would become more elevated.”
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The court case is scheduled to take place in Washington, DC at some point today, with a federal judge presiding over the case.
Mr Melcher explained what to expect: “The federal judge doesn’t wield all of this power, like ‘Yes, I feel the public should have it,’ but the federal judge has to follow the law.”
He added: “I didn’t see an exception in there, that a great public interest would allow the disclosure, The Heritage Foundation is arguing that point, the exception is when someone is signing a consent, like a medical waiver, you can sign a HIPPA authorization to allow people to see your medical records, if you chose to grant someone that access.”
According to the attorney, the DHS will argue Harry did not sign an authorization to release these records and the court cannot order this. The Heritage Foundation can counter, saying, Harry “waived those protections” when speaking opening about drugs use in his memoir.
The flaw in their argument is that Harry spoke about drug use, but he did not speak about his US visa application, which is up for debate, explains Mr Melcher.
“Heritage is only able to point to the fact about the drug use, and there’s a difference, and it’s one with a distinction, so I think that their request would be denied.”
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Mr Melcher says there have been cases where British celebrities’ US visa applicaiotns have been denied, for example, Kate Moss and John Lennon, and it did get people’s attention. But, in those cases, the visas were denied, and in Harry’s case, the visa has been approved.
Harry’s situation is different: “His visa is granted, he is here, apparently with the approval of the Department of Homeland Security, there is no action, we know about, publicly, to revoke his visa, or to deport him.”
Mr Melcher explains the court case that’s happening today: “The reason this is going to court, is not to review Prince Harry’s visa application or to potentially deport him, it is solely based on a request for records by this conservative think-take, The Heritage Foundation, where they want a copy of the visa application and they also want records to know if the Department Homeland Security granted a waiver for Prince Harry.”
Mr Melcher suggests there could be a penalty, hypothetically, but that’s based on whether or not the US visa application answers are made public, and that decision has yet to be made.
If all goes as expected, the verdict will be made known later today.
