Judge Carl Nichols of the United States has decided to keep Prince Harry’s American visa application private, despite his admission of drug use in his memoir.
The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group, seeking to reveal Harry’s immigration records to see if he disclosed his drug use.
In his memoir released in 2023, Prince Harry confessed to using marijuana, cocaine, and psychedelic mushrooms.
Judge Nichols stated that the public’s interest in seeing Harry’s immigration records is not strong enough to outweigh his right to privacy.
The judge added: “Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.”
Judge Nichols said the public’s interest in disclosure of Prince Harry’s immigration records is “outweighed by the duke’s privacy interest”.
Prince Harry moved to the US in January 2020 after announcing that he and his wife, Meghan Markle, would step back from royal duties.
