US State Department withholds Prince Harry’s visa documents: report

The US State Department has withheld Prince Harry’s visa documents in full, said a report citing court filings in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act dispute.

Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, brought the case seeking records held by the department about the Duke of Sussex, particularly in connection with his visa status and his history of drug use.

The Heritage Foundation, had filed a Freedom of Information Act request, arguing the public had a right to know if the British royal disclosed the prior drug use that he detailed in his memoir, "Spare," on his application.

According to Newsweek, the first interim production identified 18 documents, all of which have been withheld, while the State Department continues to review a further 289 documents.

The next joint status report is scheduled for October 13.

Heritage argues Harry would inevitably have faced questions about prior drug use on his visa application forms, which should have rendered him ineligible for admission without special dispensation.

Last year, the US government released documents related to a court battle over Prince Harry's 2020 visa application but redacted large portions, saying it had a duty to protect his privacy and there was no evidence he received special treatment.

More than 80 pages of court filings and transcripts were released on with large sections covered in black.

Immigration officials said the Heritage Foundation had not established that the public interest outweighed the right to privacy for Harry.

"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," wrote Jarrod Panter, an official in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security.

In his 2023 memoir, Harry said he had used cocaine and marijuana.

Harry and his American wife Meghan dropped their royal duties in Britain and moved to the United States in 2020.