The US government has refused to reveal details of Prince Harry’s American visa application due to his ‘right to privacy.’
The Department of Homeland Security for a second time turned down a Freedom of Information Act request to reveal the material, according to Mail Online.
It was made by the Heritage Foundation think-tank to see if Harry lied in immigration paper-work about past drug-taking.
Harry admitted to consuming illegal substances in his memoir Spare and his Netflix show, a fact that usually bars US entry unless there is special dispensation.
The DHS rejected an initial request. It said even though Harry was a ‘public figure’ that does not mean he would ‘forfeit all rights of privacy.’
In June, it was reported that Lawyers for the Heritage Foundation went to court to try and force the Department of Homeland Security to speed up its response to their Freedom of Information Act request about the Duke of Sussex.
Judge Carl Nichols refused to issue an injunction, urging the U.S. government to give an answer to the conservative think-tank one way or the other.
Its lead attorney Samuel Dewey shared a letter from DHS senior director Jimmy Wolfrey in which he refused to confirm or deny that had the Duke’s papers on file.
In a statement posted online, the Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner hit out at the decision.
‘This argument makes no sense, but is not surprising coming from the zero transparency Biden Administration,’ Gardiner said.
‘The Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to stonewall the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom of Information request are unacceptable, and we will be contesting their position,’ the former senior aide to ex-British PM Margaret Thatcher added.
In his book Spare, Harry admitted to previously taking marijuana, cocaine, and psychedelic mushrooms.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have positioned themselves as public figures in the U.S. since stepping back from the British Royal Family in 2020.
An admission of drug use does not automatically ban you from the United States.
Any denial of entry can be overturned after an in-person interview at a US consulate or official immigration office, where a waiver can be issued.
