Campaigners demanding Prince Harry’s U.S. visa be made public submit ‘extraordinary’ comments by Joe Biden’s U.K. ambassador to judge in new bid to make his immigration status public

Campaigners trying to force the release of Prince Harry’s US visa details have presented to a judge what they called “extraordinary” comments from Joe Biden’s ambassador to Britain.

Ambassador Jane Hartley recently said that Harry would never be deported from the US as long as Biden is president.

The Heritage Foundation, a Washington DC think tank, is currently suing Biden’s Department of Homeland Security for access to the royal family’s immigration papers.

It argued that the ambassador’s comments undermined the Biden administration’s bid to keep the documents secret and supported the case for making them public.

In a more than 100-page legal filing in Washington DC, the think tank said Ambassador Hartley’s comments in a March 25 interview on Sky News were “extraordinary” and provided a transcript to Judge Carl Nichols.

It came as Judge Nichols was reviewing records relating to Harry’s immigration status and deciding whether it should be made public.

“Ambassador Hartley’s statements dramatically strengthen the already compelling public appetite for disclosure,” the Heritage Foundation said in its filing.

It said the ambassador “selectively disclosed” details while DHS “at the same time strongly opposed any disclosure in this matter” and that it “should be considered by the courts.”

The Heritage Foundation wants Harry’s visa details released to see if he confirmed on his application that he used drugs and whether he received special treatment from immigration authorities.

In his memoir Spare, which was published after he moved to America in 2020, he admitted to previous drug use, including marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms.

US visa applicants are required to provide information about their history of drug use, which may affect their application.

Lying on an application can lead to sanctions, including deportation.

Last month, Donald Trump said that if Harry had lied on his visa application about drug use, he would take “appropriate action” if he became president again.

Trump refused to rule out that Harry would be deported from the United States.

When asked about Trump’s comments, Ambassador Hartley said this “wouldn’t happen in the Biden administration.”

In its filing, the Heritage Foundation said DHS had always maintained that “none of the information we have can be released without acknowledging what Prince Harry’s immigration status is or without tipping our hand as to what it is.”

It continued: “But on March 25, 2024, the Hon. Jane Hartley, the United States Ambassador to the Court of Saint James’s, did just that.

“Hartley spoke directly not only about the Duke of Sussex’s current immigration status, but also about HRH’s future immigration status.”

The think tank argued that this undermined the DHS argument that the information should be kept secret.

It read: “Ambassador Hartley spoke directly to some of the information about the Duke of Sussex’s immigration status requested by Plaintiffs’ FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request – information that DHS has repeatedly told this Court, must be kept confidential.”

The filing referred to Harry as ‘HRH Prince Henry Charles Albert David George, The Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton, and Baron Kilkeel KCVOs (“HRH” or “Duke of Sussex”).”

Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said: ‘The cavalier comments by the US ambassador in London about Prince Harry are an extraordinary intervention by a senior US diplomat in an ongoing federal court case.

“The comments made by the US Ambassador clearly related directly not only to the current immigration status of the Duke of Sussex, but also to the future immigration status of Prince Harry.”

He added: ‘The Biden administration has gone to great lengths to protect Prince Harry, even ruling out the possible deportation of the Duke of Sussex if he lied on his US immigration application and broke US immigration law.

“The Biden administration has acted without transparency and accountability to the American people regarding the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom of Information request regarding Prince Harry’s U.S. immigration application. They should release Harry’s immigration records to the American people.”

Earlier this week, DHS presented documents related to Harry’s visa to Judge Nichols.

The judge had ordered DHS to provide more information about why his immigration records could not be released.

DHS said it complied with the order by “filing affidavits with attachments for ex parte behind closed doors.” [in private] review’ via an encrypted link.

US immigration authorities routinely ask about drug use on visa applications.

British celebrities such as singer Amy Winehouse and model Kate Moss have gotten into trouble in the past.

But acknowledging past drug use does not necessarily lead to automatic rejection.

DHS said from the start that it could not release the Duke’s visa application, writing in a court filing: “Courts have consistently held that a person’s visa or immigration status is private, personal information exempt from disclosure.”

“Specifically, the documents would reveal the types of documents Prince Harry used to travel to the United States, his admission status and any immigration or non-immigration benefits he may have sought.”

After a hearing in February, Judge Nichols told DHS that the arguments were “insufficiently detailed” to make a ruling.