A judge in the United States has issued an update as to whether Prince Harry’s US visa application should remain private after he admitted in his controversial memoir to taking drugs

A judge has hinted that he is open to the possibility of releasing some of the sealed documents from Prince Harry’s US visa application.

Judge Carl Nichols has seen secret records revealing details of Harry’s visa status in the US, but they are currently sealed. The latest development in the two-year legal battle saw the judge explain in a Washington DC hearing today that he wanted “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn’t violate privacy.”

Judge Nichols said: “I’m not foreclosing the possibility that there might be some possible relief”, and asked Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide requests for redactions or “continued withholdings”.

He added that he wanted the “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn’t violate privacy”. John Bardo, a lawyer for the department, said the documents would be a “shell” once redacted.

Harry has admitted to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

The long-running case was sparked when conservative Washington DC think tank The Heritage Foundation questioned why Harry was allowed into the US in 2020 after he admitted in his book Spare taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

The think tank has argued that Harry either received special treatment from the Biden administration, or had lied on his immigration forms. It requested for the release of his visa records under the Freedom of Information Act, arguing that the Prince should not have received a visa due to a history of drug use, but the request was rejected by the DHS.

US visa applications specifically ask the individual about current and past drug use, which can have a detrimental impact on the progress of the application. Prolific drug use can lead to applications being rejected, however, immigration officers use their discretion against a range of factors.

It is the first time the case has been in the US courts since Donald Trump returned to the White House last month. The US president, who can intervene and ask for the documents to be released, previously warned that Harry could face consequences if he lied about taking drugs on his US visa application.

Trump warned Harry could face consequences if he lied on his visa application ( 
Image:
AP)

In a previous hearing for the case in September, a judge ruled that the public did not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records, but the Heritage Foundation is asking for the judgment to be changed. The organisation originally 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 “immense public interest”.

In his controversial memoir, the duke said cocaine “didn’t do anything for me”, adding: “Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.” The Heritage Foundation’s lawsuit argued that US law “generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry” to the country.

The think tank also said answers on the duke’s prior drug use in his visa application should have been disclosed as they could raise questions over the US government’s integrity. In the DHS’s response to the legal claim, it said: “Much like health, financial, or employment information, a person’s immigration information is private personal information.”

The submissions previously made by lawyer John Bardo on behalf of DHS also said no “publicly available information, shows that Prince Harry was ever convicted for a drug-related offence”.

Mr Bardo added that any suggestion from the Heritage Foundation of wrongdoing on behalf of the US government was “purely speculative”. Mr Trump said in a GB News interview with Nigel Farage in March last year that Harry should not receive preferential treatment.

Asked if the duke should have “special privileges” if he is found to have lied in his application, Trump said: “No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.”

It came after Trump also raged at the Biden administration for maintaining the privacy of Harry’s immigration application to “protect Harry.” He told the Express US: “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”

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