Prince Harry is accused of ‘bragging and encouraging illegal drug use’ in his memoir Spare in US court papers filed by the Heritage Foundation
Prince Harry has been accused in his memoir Spare of 'bragging and encouraging illegal drug use', a new lawsuit has revealed.
The Heritage Foundation is suing Biden in a bid to force officials to release the Duke of Sussex's US immigration files to see if he admitted to using illegal drugs before being granted a visa.
In Spare, the 39-year-old admitted using marijuana, cocaine and magic mushrooms, saying: 'Psychedelics have done me good'. He also experimented with the Amazonian hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca, describing it as “cleaning the windshield, removing the filters of life.”
Harry's admissions prompted the conservative think tank to file a lawsuit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Freedom of Information Act, and claims the royal title He may have received favorable treatment when he applied for a US visa.
The Biden administration is fighting the case on the grounds that visa applicants have a right to privacy. But the foundation has responded by insisting that the book undermined Harry's right to privacy and by 'selling out every aspect of his private life'.
The Heritage Foundation is asking to see the Duke of Sussex's US immigration files to see if he admitted to using illegal drugs before being granted a visa. Harry is seen with Meghan at the Invictus Games
Harry – who he saw leaving a London nightclub in 2006 – has openly admitted to using illegal drugs
In his final legal filing in the Federal Court in the District of Columbia, seen by Newsweekstates the Heritage Foundation: '[The case] is mainly caused by HRH [His Royal Highness] voluntarily – and for enormous profit – admitted in writing to his involvement in a number of controlled substance violations. (Some say HRH has reached the point of bragging and encouraging illegal drug use.)
“The Duke of Sussex did this despite the fact that it is well known that such admissions can have adverse immigration consequences for non-citizens and despite the fact that he employed leading legal advisers on both sides of the Atlantic,” the document said .
'But that is not everything. This case is further tailored as HRH – again to enormous profit – detailed his immigration decisions and method of entry in writing and via Netflix video.
'Add to this the fact that all aspects of HRH's travels are extensively covered in the press.'
Harry had no qualms about sharing private information in his memoir Spare – in which he even includes an anecdote about his frozen penis – and in his six-part Netflix series with wife Meghan Markle late last year.
In its filing, the foundation notes that the duke's attempts to claim “privacy interests” despite these revelations had led to “public ridicule.”
“The Duke of Sussex has sold every aspect of his private life for, by some estimates, more than $135 million. HRHs [His Royal Highness’] claims of privacy interest in light of this conduct have been met with widespread public ridicule,” the filing said
'The Duke of Sussex must take the good with the bad. “Having sold all manner of private business for profit – including specific details of his establishment in the United States and every detail of his years of illegal drug use to the point of boastfulness – HRH must accept a substantially diminished privacy interest,” the filing adds.
The Duke of Sussex openly discussed his childhood experimentation with drugs, including cocaine, magic mushrooms and marijuana, in his new memoir and in interviews after his memoir was released.
He also shared personal information about his life on his Netflix show with his wife Meghan Markle
This is the part of the visa application that Prince Harry would need to complete to enter the United States
Heritage has claimed that Harry could have lied about taking drugs on his immigration papers, despite admitting to doing so in his memoirs and on the Netflix show.
If the prince did not tell the truth on his entry forms, he could be removed from the US or barred by a border agent.
DHS initially denied the application and the Heritage Foundation sued in a Washington court after the administrative appeal stalled.
Both sides were asked by a judge to try to resolve differences on key issues, but after that failed, DHS filed a motion for summary judgment or to dismiss the case.
In a legal filing that emerged in August, DHS says claimed that the revelations Harry made in his memoirs and TV series did not mean he had to hand over the documents.
Jarrod Panter, acting Associate Center Director for Freedom of Information at DHS, wrote: “Prince Harry has not consented to the release of any data relating to or reflecting information about him.
'Despite the public role that Prince Harry has played in Britain and despite information he has released about his personal life, he still has a strong privacy interest in his immigration status and information about him reflected in (immigration) documents.
“Prince Harry has not publicly or officially disclosed his status in the United States and has not waived all rights to personal privacy.”
In his memoir, Spare, released in January, and the Netflix show Harry & Meghan, Harry has been open about his past drug use.
He has admitted to using cocaine and marijuana and once said that cannabis helped heal the trauma of his mother's death.
The Duke said taking ayahuasca, the psychedelic drug, made him realize his mother wanted him to be “happy”.
Despite this, Harry's US visa application in March 2020 could show that he ticked the 'no' box when asked about his drug use, The Heritage Foundation claims.
In its legal filing, DHS said the documents in question are “particularly sensitive” because they would “reveal Harry's (immigration) status in the United States.”
The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, filed a complaint and request for injunctive relief in May after their FOIA request was denied
DHS wrote: “Even though he is a public figure, Prince Harry still has a privacy interest in these types of documents and in his immigration or visa status in general.
“Even though public figures may have a reduced expectation of privacy, they do not completely give up their privacy interests,”
The filing added that “if this were not the case, an applicant could go on a fishing expedition for (government) data of any celebrity.”
The original request was intended to reveal whether Harry, who moved to the US after no longer being a working member of the British royal family, received 'preferential treatment'.
But the Heritage Foundation only recounted “a litany of supposedly suspicious circumstances that had no basis whatsoever,” the DHS said.
The Heritage Foundation had requested access to Prince Harry's documents from DHS earlier this year through the Freedom of Information Act
The DHS has dismissed the Heritage Foundation's claims as a “bare suspicion of government misconduct” and saying making Harry's paperwork public would not shed “meaningful light” on how the foundation operates.
Earlier this year, Rep. Greg Steube introduced the SPARE Act, which would result in the deportation of noncitizens who lie about drug use on their visa applications.
The bill would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to launch an investigation within 60 days if information comes to light about a noncitizen's drug use.
Harry previously declined to comment on the case.