Prince Harry’s confidential immigration records may soon be released following President-elect Trump’s pledge to withhold protection over Harry’s alleged “betrayal” of the Queen. Trump’s recent victory could boost the Heritage Foundation’s ongoing effort to access the Duke of Sussex’s immigration records, which had been shielded under the current administration.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Nile Gardiner, Director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, stated there is now a “strong possibility” the organization could succeed in its appeal to unseal Harry’s immigration files.
The controversy began when Harry, in his 2023 memoir, admitted to recreational drug use, potentially conflicting with U.S. immigration laws requiring applicants to disclose any drug use.
The Heritage Foundation argues that Harry’s admissions may have rendered him ineligible for U.S. entry and has sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after it declined to release Harry’s records under a Freedom of Information Act request.
A judge previously ruled in September to keep Harry’s files private, but the Heritage Foundation is now pursuing an appeal. Gardiner explained that the Trump administration could prompt further review of Harry’s visa application, noting that the incoming Homeland Security Secretary might prioritize the matter.
According to Gardiner, the Biden administration had taken steps to protect Harry, but he anticipates this will end after Trump’s inauguration. He contends that releasing Harry’s records is in the public interest, stating that “Prince Harry should be held accountable.”
‘Releasing Harry’s immigration records would send a very strong message about applying the rule of law equally to everyone.
‘There’s a clear public interest in their release. If Harry has nothing to hide he should support the release of the records’, he added.
Gardiner predicted the files will be made public in the next year and that there would be ‘growing calls’ to do so from the Republican-controlled Congress.
The feud between Trump and Harry dates back to the 2016 election when the former president called Meghan ‘nasty’ after she called him ‘divisive’ and ‘misogynistic’.
Speaking in February Trump said he ‘wouldn’t protect’ Harry if he won a second term because he ‘betrayed the Queen’.
‘That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me,’ Trump said.
Asked about it in an interview with Nigel Farage, Trump said he would take ‘appropriate action’ if Harry was found to have lied.
