Court documents released Tuesday offered few glimpses into Prince Harry’s entrance to the U.S., as federal officials argued that the royal would suffer needless “harm” and “harassment” if detailed records were released.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, had been seeking more information about Harry’s move to America, via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
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The group hoped that previously sealed court filings and transcripts could shed light on whether the Duke of Sussex had been asked, or addressed on his own, issues about past drug use before moving to his new U.S. home near Santa Barbara with wife and actor Meghan Markle.
The heavily redacted documents made public on Tuesday seemed to align with “the continued assertion that the privacy interests outweigh the public interest,” said Mary Hoopes, who teaches immigration law at nearby Pepperdine University Law School.
“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,” according to a declaration by Jarrod Panter, Chief FOIA officer for the Department of Homeland Security
“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.”
The Heritage Foundation has previously argued there is “intense public interest” in whether Harry received special treatment during the application process, particularly after his 2023 memoir “Spare” revealed past drug use.
In the memoir, Harry admitted to using cocaine, among other drugs.
“Of course I had been taking cocaine at that time. At someone’s house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more,” he wrote in a Spanish-language version of his book.
“It wasn’t very fun, and it didn’t make me feel especially happy as seemed to happen to others, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective. To feel. To be different.”
While admitting to drug use doesn’t necessarily prevent people from entering the U.S., lying about it during the application process could carry severe consequences.
“If he lied, that gets you deported,” Heritage Foundation attorney Samuel Dewey told reporters in February. “People are routinely deported for lying on immigration forms.”
Senior Reporter
Emilie Ikeda is an NBC News correspondent.
