Donald Trump made it obvious at his inauguration on Monday that he is here to make changes, from renaming the Gulf of Mexico to leaving the World Health Organisation. And for one prince in particular, Mr Trump’s hardline stance might be problematic.
In 2024, US judge Carl Nichols ruled that Prince Harry's visa application information would stay top secret as there was no need for it to be made public. This came after a conservative think tank in Washington questioned the royal's eligibility to enter the US in 2020 after he discussed his legal drug use in his memoir, Spare.
US visa application forms specifically enquire about previous and present drug use. Drug use can lead to the denial of both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications, as immigration authorities have the discretion to make decisions based on various factors.
In his memoir, Prince Harry said cocaine “didn't do anything for me,” and that “marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.”
According to the complaint filed by the Heritage Foundation, US law “generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry” into the nation.
The judge said Prince Harry’s application would remain sealed as “the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the Duke's immigration records”.
His judgement added: “Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.”
What has Donald Trump said about Prince Harry’s immigration status?
Mr Trump has previously expressed his disapproval of Prince Harry's immigration status.
Mr Trump told the Daily Express US in February 2024: “I wouldn't protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”
The president has never hidden his admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Prince Harry lives in the Californian town of Montecito with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
There is still uncertainty about whether Prince Harry's visa documents will be kept private.
The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project said it would “continue to monitor the situation”.
Kyle Brosnan, chief counsel for the Washington D.C-based organisation told Newsweek: “No one should read into the order, or the fact that it is under seal. We have always said this case is unique and opinions can be initially sealed in such cases. We will continue to monitor the situation.”
Meanwhile, Nile Gardiner, Bernard and Barbara Lomas fellow at the Heritage Foundation and director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom, accused the Sussexes of making a “mockery” of the royal family after their “hugely inappropriate” intervention in a political debate.
The controversy arose after the couple criticised Meta’s decision to discontinue its widely debated fact-checking programme. In a statement posted on their website last week, the Sussexes called on Meta, led by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, to reverse its implementation of a “Community Notes” method for fact-checking across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Meta announced on January 7 that the changes would be rolled out gradually to streamline content moderation and reduce errors.
“It doesn’t matter whether your views are left, right, or somewhere in between — the latest news from Meta about changes to their policies directly undermines free speech. This should deeply concern us all”, the couple said.
Mr Gardiner told the Daily Beast that the couple's comments represented a “clear intervention on a deeply political matter, specifically the contentious issue of censorship on social media in the United States.”
“For members of the royal family to engage in such overtly political matters is, quite frankly, highly inappropriate. It goes against royal protocol,” he added.
Mr Gardiner has led the Heritage Foundation’s legal campaign to obtain and publicise Prince Harry’s immigration records from the US Department of Homeland Security.
Having held several meetings with Mr Trump, Mr Gardiner said that if he were to meet the president again, he would strongly recommend making Prince Harry’s immigration documents public. He described the public release of the records as “just a matter of time”.
Meanwhile, PR expert Nick Ede told Newsweek: “Unfortunately there could be a repercussion from (their Meta statement), especially with Mr Trump, you know, poking this ginormous bear and not expecting something back from it.
“Trump will see this as a battle he wants to win and potentially will target them in whatever way he does it.”
What has Donald Trump said about Meghan Markle?
Mr Trump has publicly expressed his disapproval of Markle on several occasions. In a 2019 interview, when informed of Ms Markle's previous criticism of him during his 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump remarked, "I didn't know that she was nasty."
Following Prince Harry and Markle's video encouraging Americans to vote, Mr Trump said in a 2020 press conference: "I'm not a fan of hers," and wished Harry "a lot of luck... because he's going to need it."
During a 2022 interview with Piers Morgan, Mr Trump commented on Prince Harry and Markle’s relationship, suggesting that Harry was "whipped" and has been "led around by his nose."
More recently, in 2023, Mr Trump said he wanted a debate with Markle. "I would love to debate her. I would love it. I disagree so much with what they're doing,” he said.
Could Donald Trump deport Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?
Mr Trump could not deport Markle as she is a US citizen. Under US law, citizens cannot be deported or stripped of their citizenship unless in extremely rare cases involving acts such as fraud during the naturalisation process — which doesn’t apply to her.
Prince Harry, however, is a different matter, because his residency in the US depends on his visa or immigration status. While there’s ongoing debate about his visa application, any legal action against him would not affect Markle’s right to remain in the US.
