Prince Harry US visa documents released but they are heavily redacted due to potential for “unwanted contact by the media”

A US court has unsealed documents relating to Prince Harry’s US visa application but won’t release the immigration records in full due to the potential for “harassment” and “unwanted contact by the media”.

The heavily redacted files were released on Tuesday (Wednesday morning in Australia) after a federal judge in Washington ruled in favour of the US conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation as part of a freedom of information request.

The newly-released documents relate to the foundation’s efforts to have Prince Harry‘s visa application made public.

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They do not include the original visa application made by the Duke of Sussex five years ago.

Prince Harry’s team has always maintained he was “truthful” in his application to live in the US.

In 2020, he and wife Meghan left the UK after stepping back from their roles as senior working royals.

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They first moved to Canada before settling in Montecito, California, where they now own a home.

The Heritage Foundation alleged Prince Harry might have lied on the application or received special treatment by former US president Joe Biden after revelations made in the duke’s memoir.

In Spare, which was published in January 2023, Harry wrote about using cocaine, cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms from around the age of 17.

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Admitting to drug use on a visa application could lead to an application being rejected, though it is ultimately down to the discretion of immigration officers.

The foundation argued the duke’s right to privacy was outweighed by an “intense public interest” in whether he received special treatment when applying to move to the US with Meghan.

The case has been ongoing for some time.

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Last September, Judge Carl Nichols ruled in favour of the Department of Homeland Security and said the public interest did not outweigh Prince Harry’s right to privacy.

But there was a turnaround last week when Nichols ordered the government to file redacted versions of the prince’s application documents into the court docket by Tuesday.

What the documents say

The heavily redacted files reveal why there was not a strong enough public interest argument to disclose Prince Harry’s immigration records in full.

The documents read: “To release his exact status could subject him to reasonably foreseeable harm in the form of harassment as well as unwanted contact by the media and others.”

World-shaking secret Harry, Meghan were keeping in this pic

It continued: “There is the potential of harm in the form of harassment if his exact [REDACTED] is revealed. Thus, there is significant privacy interests involved in the records.

“Plaintiffs have not established public interest, as defined by the FOIA, in disclosure of the records.

“Plaintiffs allege that the records should be disclosed as public confidence in the government would suffer or to establish whether the Duke was granted preferential treatment.

“This speculation by plaintiffs does not point to any evidence of government misconduct.”

If it is found that Prince Harry lied on his application he “should face prosecution in the United States as well as deportation”, Nile Gardiner, a British-American conservative commentator, said.

He’s been leading the case for The Heritage Foundation and is director of its Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom.

Last month, US President Donald Trump appeared to rule out deporting the 40-year-old royal back to Britain, suggesting Harry has “enough problems with his wife”.

Trump, as president, has the power to order federal agencies to release documents but he may have finally drawn a line in the two-year legal case.

In the president’s first intervention in the visa row, Trump said he had no interest in revoking Harry’s visa and deporting him.

Speaking to the New York Post about whether he would intervene, Trump said: “I don’t want to do that. I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”

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