Joe Biden's administration is being sued by a conservative think tank seeking the publication of Prince Harry's visa application in an effort to determine whether there was "favoritism" over his use of drugs.
The Duke of Sussex moved to America in March 2020, when Donald Trump was still president, as international borders were due to close in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, Harry and Meghan Markle have been living in California and working at their Archewell Foundation, and the prince's visa application has come under scrutiny over recent admissions in his book Spare that he took drugs including cocaine, cannabis, magic mushrooms and ayahuasca in both Britain and America.
The Heritage Foundation initially submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in early March, asking for his application form to be published but it was refused citing Harry's privacy.
Now the think tank has sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a court filing dated May 1, seen by Newsweek, states: "The media coverage has surfaced the question of whether DHS's decision to admit the Duke of Sussex into the United States should be reconsidered in light of the Duke of Sussex's most recent admissions to the essential elements of numerous drug offenses both here and abroad in his 2023 memoir, Spare."
It added: "This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the production of information related to DHS's decisions to admit HRH Prince Henry Charles Albert David George of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton, and Baron Kikell K.C.V.O. ('HRH' or 'Duke of Sussex') into the United States and to allow him to remain to date."
The Heritage Foundation argued that the decision on Harry's visa should be opened up to public scrutiny to allow examination of whether Homeland Security in general applies the rules without favor.
"[Media] coverage has directly surfaced questions regarding whether DHS is enforcing the law in a discretionary area consistently, impartially, or is showing favoritism," the filing states.
The organization said Harry "has a severely diminished privacy interest" due to revelations, including in his book Spare.
Among examples, the filing quotes an extract relating to frostbite that Harry experienced after a 2011 trek across the North Pole: "My penis was oscillating between extremely sensitive and borderline traumatized. The last place I wanted to be was Frostnipistan."
A friend recommend he use Elizabeth Arden cream, which Harry noted was his mother Princess Diana's favored lip cream: "I felt as if my mother was right there in the room. Then I took a smidge and applied it...down there."
The foundation's lawyers state: "The Duke of Sussex, however, has made the affirmative choice to put almost every aspect of his life on display—including those aspects traditionally kept private by public figures.
"In so doing, he has publicized not only his own most personal and private moments, but also those of HM the King, HRH The Prince and Princess of Wales, and the late HM the Queen.
"Moreover, these revelations have been made explicitly for massive commercial gain."
"The foregoing history of revealing virtually every aspect of private life for
commercial gain is perhaps best expressed by South Park's biting and equal opportunity satire," the filing continued.
"South Park deemed the contradiction between HRH's claims of privacy and his repeated public actions to be so great they devoted an entire episode—The World Wide Privacy Tour—to satirizing HRH. Under the old adage 'a picture is worth a 1,000 words,' a screenshot follows."
The foundation's lawyers attached a still showing the "prince and princess of Canada" campaigning for their privacy during a TV interview.
The court filings also revealed that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS] had been unable to find Harry's file: "On or about March 13, 2023, Counsel for [The Heritage Foundation] received a call from USCIS indicating that they were having difficulty locating the Duke of Sussex's A-File.
"USCIS indicated that they were contacting [The Heritage Foundation] in hopes of conferring and gathering more information to process the Request.
"No matter how an alien is authorized to enter the Country, they will have an A-File in some form. USCIS makes commonly requested A-Files publicly available in their FOIA electronic reading room."
The filing also cited Newsweek polling that showed more than half of Americans wanted Prince Harry's visa to be reviewed.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
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