Campaigners are demanding to know if Duke admitted 'multiple' drug use on visa application - and call for the royal to be deported if he lied about taking cocaine before moving to California. Photo / Getty Images
Campaigners are demanding to know if Duke admitted 'multiple' drug use on visa application - and call for the royal to be deported if he lied about taking cocaine before moving to California. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry is fighting to keep his American visa application under wraps amid the public’s questioning of the Duke of Sussex and if he admitted to recreational drug use prior to moving over the ditch with wife Meghan Markle in 2020, according to the Daily Mail.
A conservativeresearch institute is in a heated dispute with Washington officials who are vigorously rejecting requests to publish details of the application - including emails and text messages - in order to protect the prince’s privacy.
In his bombshell memoir Spare and the television interviews that followed, Prince Harry admitted to dabbling with cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms. He claimed that psychedelics and marijuana “really helped” him deal with his “trauma”, while cocaine he used more as a “social thing”.
The Heritage Foundation claims that the Duke’s visa application should be made public so that the average American taxpayer can know whether he was honest about using drugs when entering the country. US immigration law has severe repercussions for withholding the truth from officials, and such offences can lead to deportation and could prevent the Prince from applying for citizenship.
The director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, Mike Howell, said: “This request is in the public interest in light of the potential revocation of Prince Harry’s visa for illicit substance use and further questions regarding the Prince’s drug use and whether he was properly vetted before entering the United States”.
Experts have weighed in on the situation, revealing that US visa applications are usually rejected if the candidate has a history of drug use. The Heritage Foundation suggests that, if immigration officials were aware of Harry’s history with drugs, his case could prompt questions as to whether he received special treatment as a result of his royal family connections and his wife’s fame, which would be considered illegal.
Prince Harry immigrated to California with Meghan Markle in 2020. Photo / Getty Images
The Daily Mail has approached Prince Harry’s representatives for comment.
A spokesman for the US State Department said, “Visa records are confidential under Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.”
In his book Spare, Prince Harry admitted to first trying cocaine when he was 17 on a shooting weekend. He then went on to say that he did a “few more lines” on various other occasions.
The Duke also revealed that he experienced hallucinations at an event in California with other well-known celebrities and that he smoked marijuana after his first date with Meghan Markle.
Harry additionally divulged his “positive” experience using ayahuasca, revealing that the psychedelic drug “brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold on to for a period of time”.
Prince Harry during a live-streamed interview with trauma expert Dr Gabor Mate.
The prince confessed to using the drug during an interview with Dr Gabor Maté, a renowned therapist and outspoken supporter of decriminalising drugs, specifically the Amazonian plant ayahuasca which he has allegedly used to treat mental illness in his patients.
Prince Harry revealed to Maté that, “(Cocaine) didn’t do anything for me, it was more a social thing and gave me a sense of belonging for sure, I think it probably also made me feel different to the way I was feeling, which was kind of the point.
“Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.”
Many have theorised that Harry entered the US on a fast track visa: a visa that people with “extraordinary ability” can apply for. The visa - known as an O-1 visa - is currently used by the likes of Canadian musician Justin Bieber and Australian actor Hugh Jackman, and lasts for three years, meaning Harry’s visa renewal is due in a couple of weeks.
After Spare hit shelves in January, in which the Duke of Sussex admitted to drug use on a regular basis, experts suggested that the prince may have put his visa “at risk”.
