Prince Harry's US Visa Faces Fresh Trouble As State Department Withholds Files
Prince Harry’s past admissions in Spare are coming back to haunt him as the U.S. State Department steps up scrutiny over his visa status.
Prince Harry's bombshell 2023 memoir, Spare, not only rocked the foundations of the Royal Family but also landed him in hot water with the American authorities over his candid confessions. In his book, the Duke disclosed his past use of cocaine, cannabis, and psychedelic mushrooms, which led to intense scrutiny regarding his U.S. visa status. Harry recounted trying cocaine at 17 during a hunting trip, smoking marijuana at Eton, Kensington Palace, as well as in California, and taking magic mushrooms at a party hosted by Hollywood icon Courteney Cox. These admissions eventually sparked legal proceedings under the Freedom of Information Act, with recent reports suggesting the Duke is facing stricter measures from the US State Department.
According to Newsweek, the U.S. State Department has withheld 18 documents concerning Prince Harry and will continue to review his visa status, keeping in mind his past drug use. This follows a lawsuit from the Heritage Foundation, which argued that the Duke needed to declare his narcotics use while applying for the visa. It has been further highlighted that the department has put on hold 289 related documents, and the next review status report has been scheduled for October 13th. The current joint status report, filed at the district court in D.C., stated, "This case stems from a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request that Plaintiffs submitted to the Department for records regarding Henry Charles Albert David, also known as 'the Duke of Sussex' or 'Prince Harry.' The State Department made its first interim production in this case on July 30, 2026, in which it identified 18 responsive records, all withheld in their entirety."
Heritage Foundation initially faced defeat when Judge Carl Nichols upheld Prince Harry's right to privacy rather than making his documents public. "The Court agrees that the Duke's privacy interest outweighs any public interest and therefore grants Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment," Judge Nichols stated in his memorandum. However, the conservative think tank filed a fresh case in 2025 targeting the State Department and proposed that all other documents concerning the Duke's visa status be put in the public domain. President Donald Trump himself weighed in on the issue during his 2024 interview with Nigel Farage on GB News, saying, "We'll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied, they'll have to take appropriate action."
Oversight Project director Mike Howell declared "the Prince Harry scandal just got a lot more suspicious" and called for his deportation. However, Trump later dodged the issue by saying, "I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible." The 18 withheld files are among the first batch of a larger set of 307 documents, totaling 2,487 pages, from State Department computerized systems. Although the initial files did not reveal much about Prince Harry, the remaining 289 documents are said to hold significant disclosures.
