Legal documents about Prince Harry’s US visa application have been released – albeit with very heavy redactions.
The released records show the judge concluded in September it wasn’t in the public interest to disclose information about the Duke of Sussex’s immigration status.
He argued that Harry could be subject to “harm in the form of harassment” as well as “unwanted contact” from the media.
So much of the text has been blacked out that there are still many unanswered questions, particularly about whether the prince admitted on his forms he’d taken drugs.
One of the lawyers pushing for the release of information told Sky News they will keep pursuing the case and there will be more proceedings in the “near future”.
Samuel Dewey, attorney for the conservative thinktank The Heritage Foundation, said: “It’s always been a puzzle and we’ve always taken the view it may take some time to get answers… we will use this additional data to keep moving forward.”
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The six litigation files which were previously secret have been unsealed after a challenge by The Heritage Foundation.
The thinktank submitted freedom of information requests to establish whether the Duke of Sussex received special dispensation with his visa application.
It follows admissions in Harry’s memoir Spare that he had taken drugs including cannabis, cocaine and psychedelics.
The Heritage Foundation wanted to establish whether this was disclosed in his visa application and whether the US government had followed immigration laws.
Listed as Exhibit 1, one of the files also states that the records contain “very specific private and personal” information, the release of which would be an invasion of personal privacy.
In one document, the singer Sting is also mentioned, but with so many redactions we learn little more. It is almost impossible to decipher the documents. There is mention of a “waiver” but no further details.
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This was never about revealing Prince Harry’s visa application forms, that’s private. But it is about one of the questions he had to answer; whether he’s taken drugs.
We’re no closer to understanding what he wrote. Harry’s team has always insisted he told the truth.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex left the UK in 2020, and are now living in Montecito in California.
In his memoir, Harry wrote how cocaine “didn’t do anything for me”, but that “marijuana is different, that actually really did help me”.
He also wrote about taking magic mushrooms he’d found in a fridge at a party thrown by the Friends star Courtney Cox.
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Nile Gardiner, from the Heritage Foundation, posted: “There is zero accountability and transparency in the heavily redacted documents.”
He added that people “have a right to know” about Harry’s responses to his drug taking on his visa application.
