In Washington, heavily redacted court documents were disclosed on Tuesday without revealing new details on how Prince Harry entered the United States, amidst an ongoing legal battle led by a conservative organization aiming to ascertain if Prince Harry omitted details about past drug use on his immigration paperwork.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that the documents had been “withheld in full,” labeling all records as “categorically exempt from disclosure.”
This case revolves around the specifics of how Harry, Duke of Sussex and son of King Charles III, secured entry into the U.S. when he and his wife, Meghan Markle, relocated to Southern California in 2020. The Heritage Foundation initiated a lawsuit following DHS’s broad denial of its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to release Harry’s immigration documentation. Prince Harry is not directly involved in the litigation.
The Heritage Foundation contends that significant public interest exists in clarifying whether Harry received preferential treatment during the immigration process, notably after his 2023 memoir “Spare” confessed to prior drug experimentation. According to Shari Suzuki, a DHS and Customs and Border Protection FOIA officer, Harry has not authorized the release of his records.
Another official, Jarrod Panter, DHS chief FOIA officer, noted, “Releasing Prince Harry’s exact status could expose him to possible harm in the form of harassment or unwanted media attention.”
Panter further explained that the Heritage Foundation must demonstrate that the public’s interest in disclosure surpasses individual privacy rights and that releasing an individual’s records would offer substantial public advantage.
Within Panter’s court statement, numerous pages are entirely obscured.
In “Spare,” Harry admitted to using cocaine starting at age 17, as well as experimenting with cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms, remarking, “It wasn’t very fun, and it didn’t make me feel especially happy as seemed to happen to others, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective. To feel. To be different.”
The United States customarily queries visa applicants regarding drug use, a question which has historically presented travel challenges for figures such as chef Nigella Lawson, singer Amy Winehouse, and model Kate Moss. Although admitting to past drug use does not automatically prevent entry or residency in the U.S., providing false information can have significant repercussions.
During a February session concerning the matter, Judge Nichols attempted to balance divulging excessive information in the DHS submissions with redacting so heavily that only a name or date remains visible.
“There’s a point where redactions would leave just a name or a date,” remarked Nichols.
