Prince Harry has right to visa privacy, despite his drug-taking admission
Prince Harry’s US visa application should remain private despite him admitting taking drugs in his memoir, a judge has ruled.
The Duke of Sussexās reference to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his book Spare prompted a conservative Washington think tank to question why he was allowed into the US in 2020.
In his ruling seen in court documents on Monday, US judge Carl Nichols said āthe public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the dukeās immigration recordsā.
His judgment added: āLike any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.
āAnd the dukeās public statements about his travel and drug use did not disclose, and therefore did not eliminate his interest in keeping private, specific information regarding his immigration status, applications, or other materials.ā
The Heritage Foundation brought the lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) after a Freedom of Information Act request was rejected, with the think tank claiming it was of āimmense public interestā.
Judge Nichols went on to say the publicās interest in disclosure of Harryās immigration records is āoutweighed by the dukeās privacy interestā.
āPublic disclosure of records about a single admission of a foreign national in the circumstances described above would provide the public, at best, limited information about the departmentās general policy in admitting aliens.
āAnd the marginal public benefit of knowing that limited information is outweighed by the privacy interest the duke retains in his immigration status and records.ā
Some of the judgment has been redacted ā in particular facts Prince Harry has not disclosed publicly in relation to his immigration status and records, and what was contained in his visa application.
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In his controversial memoir, the royal said cocaine ādidnāt do anything for meā, adding: āMarijuana is different, that actually really did help me.ā
The Heritage Foundationās lawsuit argued that US law āgenerally renders such a person inadmissible for entryā to the country.
The think tank also said answers on Prince Harryās prior drug use in his visa application should have been disclosed as they could raise questions over the US governmentās integrity.
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