In June, a federal judge in Washington, DC will hear an appeal from a conservative think tank to unseal Prince Harry’s US immigration records.
On Tuesday, Nile Gardner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, tweeted that a hearing on his organization’s suit will be held on June 6 and will be open to the press.
If a judge agrees to unseal the immigration records, it could have serious consequences for Prince Harry’s legal status: in his autobiography, the British royal family member detailed his past drug use, despite the fact that past drug use can be grounds for denial of a visa application in the US.
When Prince Harry applied for a visa to the United States, he was most likely asked about his previous drug use. Given the revelations in his book, the Heritage Foundation wants to know how he responded.
So far, they’ve had little luck obtaining access to the visa records, which would reveal whether Prince Harry lied on his application or told the truth about his past drug use and was given preferential treatment when his application was approved anyway, according to the thedailybeast
The Heritage Foundation had previously requested that the application be made public as soon as possible under the Freedom of Information Act, but a court denied that request on the grounds that Prince Harry’s 2020 move to California did not raise serious enough concerns about governmental integrity to warrant the unsealing of the records.
The Heritage Foundation then filed an appeal with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where a judge is said to have agreed to hear their case.
In 2018, Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle and moved to the United States two years later, purchasing a home in the small, affluent Southern California town of Montecito. Ms. Markle, who is biracial and Black, made the decision after repeatedly clashing with members of the British press.
Ms. Markle and Prince Harry resigned as active members of the Royal Family around the time they moved to the United States, when the Duke of Sussex, presumably, was granted a visa. People who move to the United States are frequently granted a three-year visa, which means Prince Harry may have to apply for another visa this year and possibly answer questions about his drug use again.
Prince Harry is currently involved in another high-profile legal battle in the UK, as one of the plaintiffs suing Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, over phone-hacking allegations.