Royal Family's reaction to Harry's US visa bombshell revealed by expert in telling remark
EXCLUSIVE: A leading royal expert shares how the potential bombshell documents about Prince Harry's US visa could impact the Royal Family and President Trump.
A US judge has ordered that potentially explosive documents about Prince Harry's US immigration status must be released today. It comes as a leading royal expert has shared his opinion on the impact this might have for President Trump and the Royal Family should any "legal issues" arise.
Describing any backlash as an "irritant" for both parties, leading royal expert, Richard Fitzwilliams, told Express.co.uk: "Sources close to Donald Trump have indicated in the past that he [Prince Harry] should not receive preferential treatment but the President has said that he would leave him alone.
"If there were legal issues affecting a member of the British Royal Family it would be a cause célèbre. This would be an irritant both for the Trump administration and for the Royal Family. I don’t therefore expect anything will actually happen, whatever is revealed."
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Following his relocation to the US in 2020, Prince Harry candidly spoke about his past drug use in his memoir, Spare, revealing that he had taken cocaine, marijuana and magic mushrooms.
Due to this, The Heritage Foundation, a Conservative Think Tank, launched a bid under the Freedom of Information Act to uncover Harry's immigration status. After the request was refused, the organisation took the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to court seeking documents.
Judge Nichols ruled in September 2024 that there was not a public interest in releasing documents that had been provided to him by DHS. But last month, following appeals, he agreed to release redacted copies of three documents, while keeping a fourth private.
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Referring to what, if anything, the public will learn from the three documents, Richard added: "Normally I would not think it was in the public interest to reveal the details requested by the Heritage Foundation.
"I realise that the main reason Harry took drugs has been to ease the pain he felt after losing his mother.
"The facts are that in writing about this so openly in Spare and in the interviews he gave on television promoting it, particularly that with Dr Gabor Mate, he seemed open when discussing the effects of certain drugs. It would therefore seem reasonable for us to know if he had mentioned he had taken them on his application form, as he should have."
The expert added: "The documents could potentially show if he had admitted to taking drugs. However, these parts may be redacted. The Judge had earlier ruled that there was not a strong public interest in his immigration details being disclosed."
The Department of Homeland Security previously argued that releasing all documents would infringe on Harry's right to privacy. The department said public figures have a "diminished expectation of privacy" but "do not surrender their privacy interests entirely".
President Trump previously commented on the controversy, saying he would not interfere or push the Prince out of the US. "I'll leave him alone," he said back in February, before adding a bitter condemnation of the Duchess of Sussex, saying: "He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible."
