Prince Harry faces another headache as public 'left in the dark' over US visa row

A US think-tank which had previously requested to view Prince Harry’s immigration records but was rejected wants to reopen its case to get the duke’s visa application made public following his revelations in his memoir about past drug use, according to reports.

The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-DC-based think tank, submitted freedom of information requests to the US Department of Homeland Security earlier this year to release the Duke of Sussex’s records.

But Judge Carl J Nichols terminated the case last month after he ruled that the duke’s visa application should remain private.

Now, the think tank has submitted a new court filing as it wants to reopen the case, claiming it was not allowed to see private submissions to the judge by the Joe Biden administration.

The filing stated that the way the case was conducted breached “iron-clad guardrails” on conducting ex-parte proceedings – those involving only one party, the Telegraph reports.

It added that the secrecy regarding some elements of the “unique” case left both the think tank and the public in the dark.

But it argued that the “most obvious consequence” is that its ability to prepare arguments on appeal is “severely compromised”.

Last month, judge Nichols ruled that “the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the Duke’s immigration records.”

He stated: “Like any foreign national, the Duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.

“And the Duke’s 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.”

The original case was brought after Harry revealed he had previously used recreational drugs like cocaine, marijuana and magic mushrooms in Spare, which raised questions about whether the duke had declared that on his visa application when he relocated to the US.

Under US law, while not constituting an automatic ban, drug use can be grounds to reject a visa application.