The conservative Heritage Foundation isn’t giving up on its battle to learn whether the U.K.’s Prince Harry got preferential treatment when being approved for a visa to live in the United States.
The group is considering an appeal of a judge’s ruling Monday that the Duke of Sussex, who has made millions publishing a memoir about the most intimate details of his life, can keep his visa application under wraps because of his right to “privacy.”
“The Prince Harry scandal just got a lot more suspicious,” Mike Howell, executive director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, said in a statement published to the social media platform X.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON GROWING PRINCE HARRY SCANDAL AND INCREASED PROSPECTS FOR DEPORTATION https://t.co/aaxx7FLBEK pic.twitter.com/oKhwPQHPez
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) September 24, 2024
Howell cited parts of U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols’ ruling that redacted crucial details of Harry’s visa application as grounds to suspect the prince got preferential treatment from the U.S. government.
Nichols was appointed in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump.
His ruling has sparked a backlash from Heritage that shows the public battle isn’t disappearing any time soon.
“While our case is far from over as we explore appeal, I’d say that these very curious redactions point to something serious afoot,” Howell’s statement said.
Should Harry’s visa records be released?
Harry and his wife, the former actress Meghan Markle, moved to the U.S. in 2020 after stepping back from being active members of Britain’s royal family — and amid a rancorous relationship with that royal family that apparently hasn’t gotten any better.
It isn’t clear what kind of visa Harry obtained from the U.S. government, according to The Washington Post. His wife is an American citizen.
The Heritage Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security in 2023 to make public details of Harry’s visa application.
In the lawsuit, the group contended that disclosures about drug use Harry made in his bestselling memoir “Spare” could have made him ineligible for legal residency in the U.S.
It also contended Harry has waived any rights to “privacy” by his own very public actions.
“To be sure, even public figures have privacy interests,” the lawsuit stated. “This is particularly so as regards the aspects of their life that are not implicated by their public status and which they take steps to separate from their public life and keep confidential.
“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.” (Italics in the original.)
The lawsuit is an attempt “to force the Biden administration to publish his application to determine whether Harry lied or was granted preferential treatment because of his royal status,” Newsweek magazine’s chief royal correspondent Jack Royston wrote.
In his statement, Howell said it was a simple matter of fairness.
“Americans deserve an immigration system with both secure borders and also fairly applied rules for high-profile immigrants like Harry,” the statement said.
“It certainly appears that Harry was given special treatment and now we know it’s for something so serious that it involves extensive redactions.”
In one curious passage cited by the Oversight Project, Nichols’ ruling stated:
“In particular, the summary judgment record reflects that the Duke has never disclosed publicly (among other things) the following facts,” with the “facts” blacked out.
The next legible sentence stated: “That is the ‘type of information that a person would ordinarily not wish to make known about himself’ and therefore the government has demonstrated that the Duke retains a privacy interest in these records.”
What is so bad that the United States government and Prince Harry don’t want you to see under these redactions? https://t.co/uq18A4bR8Y pic.twitter.com/XOCMIolhhZ
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) September 24, 2024
Howell’s statement ended with a vow that the truth will come out — and included a snide reference to Harry’s wife and the controversial couple’s notorious attempts to monetize their own celebrity.
“Americans will know the full story soon enough. Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Markle will tell us what’s beneath the redactions on their next Netflix special,” the statement said.
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