A lawsuit brought over the visa status of Prince Harry in the US has been terminated, it has been reported.
The conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security demanding the publication of the Duke of Sussex’s visa documents after the California-based royal had mentioned in his memoir Spare he took drugs in the past.
The lawsuit argued the royal’s use of narcotics should have barred him from living and working in America.
However, court records show that the case was terminated on September 9, when several sealed orders were filed in the case, heard in Washington DC before Judge Carl J. Nichols, Newsweek reports.
Although knowledge of the termination is in the open, little is known as to why the case was brought to an end – and whether this now means Harry’s visa papers will remain a secret.
According to the US news outlet, Heritage lawyers wrote in filings related to the case: “[The case] comes about in the main because HRH [His Royal Highness] voluntarily—and for immense profit—admitted in writing to the elements of any number of controlled substance violations. (Indeed, some say HRH has approached the point of bragging and encouraging illegal drug use.)
“The Duke of Sussex did so despite the fact that it is widely known that such admissions can have adverse immigration consequences for non-citizens and despite employing preeminent legal advisors on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Government lawyers argued in turn in an earlier court filing that they “cannot confirm or deny whether any other records that [Heritage] are seeking exist because the mere acknowledgement of these records would constitute an unwarranted invasion of Prince Harry’s privacy. The records are particularly sensitive because releasing them, even in part, would reveal Prince Harry’s status in the United States, which Prince Harry has not disclosed.
“Specifically, the records would reveal the types of documents that Prince Harry used to travel to the United States, his admission status, and any immigration, or non-immigration, benefits that he may have sought. Courts consistently hold that a person’s visa or immigration status is private, personal information exempt from disclosure.”
Harry’s use of narcotics such as cocaine and marijuana was revealed in his bombshell memoir Spare, first published in January last year. The royal, who will celebrate his 40th birthday later this week, has admitted use as a teenager and as an adult. Both drugs are illegal in the UK.
In Spare, Harry also described taking psychedelic mushrooms during a trip to California in 2016.
Harry described doing cocaine as a teenager saying: “Of course…I had been doing cocaine around this time. At someone’s country house, during a shooting weekend, I’d been offered a line, and I’d done a few more since. It wasn’t much fun, and it didn’t make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me, but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal.”
He later wrote in Spare: “Psychedelics did me some good as well. I’d experimented with them over the years, for fun, but now I’d begun to use them therapeutically, medicinally. They didn’t simply allow me to escape reality for a while, they let me redefine reality.”
The Sussexes, The US Department of Home Security and Heritage Foundation have been contacted for comment.
