Prince Harry faces release of confidential immigration files after President-elect Trump vowed he ‘wouldn’t protect’ him because he ‘betrayed the Queen’

Prince Harry’s confidential immigration files may finally be made public after President-elect Trump had vowed he ‘wouldn’t protect’ him because he ‘betrayed the Queen’

 

 

With Donald Trump getting re-elected this means the Heritage Foundation is more likely to win its long-running bid for the Duke of Sussex’s records which until now has been blocked by the outgoing president’s administration. 

 

 

Speaking to DailyMail after Trump’s historic victory, Nile Gardiner, Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said he believes there is now a ‘strong possibility’ the think tank will be able to successfully appeal the decision. 

 

 

Harry’s visa application was first called into question after he admitted in his 2023 memoir to using various drugs recreationally, something he would’ve been required to disclose in immigration documents. 

 

 

The right-wing think tank claimed Harry’s admissions could have made him ineligible for entry to the US and sued the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the agency, which oversees immigration, refused to disclose a Freedom of Information request for Harry’s files.

 

 

In September a judge ruled that the files are to remain private for now – a decision Heritage is now appealing.

 

 

‘I do think there’s a strong possibility that this could happen. It’s the president’s prerogative,’ Gardiner said. 

 

 

‘Also the new Homeland Security Secretary could order a review of Harry’s immigration application.

 

 

‘There are multiple things that could happen but it would be in the best interests of the American people if the Trump administration releases Prince Harry’s records for public scrutiny and Harry should be held to account’.

 

 

According to Gardiner, the Biden White House ‘has bent over backwards to protect Prince Harry and that protection is going to come to an end after the inauguration’.

 

 

‘Releasing Harry’s immigration records would send a very strong message about applying the rule of law equally to everyone. 

 

 

‘There’s a clear public interest in their release. If Harry has nothing to hide he should support the release of the records’, he added. 

 

 

Gardiner predicted the files will be made public in the next year and that there would be ‘growing calls’ to do so from the Republican-controlled Congress. 

 

 

The feud between Trump and Harry dates back to the 2016 election when the former president called Meghan ‘nasty’ after she called him ‘divisive’ and ‘misogynistic’.

 

 

Speaking in February Trump said he ‘wouldn’t protect’ Harry if he won a second term because he ‘betrayed the Queen’.

 

 

‘That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me,’ Trump said.

 

Asked about it in an interview with Nigel Farage, Trump said he would take ‘appropriate action’ if Harry was found to have lied.