Prince Harry Faces 'High Stakes' in Drugs Case—Think Tank

Prince Harry's privacy is a "completely ridiculous" ground for withholding details of his visa application after he discussed taking drugs in his book, the think tank behind the lawsuit told Newsweek.

The Duke of Sussex was dragged into a Freedom of Information Act case between The Heritage Foundation and Joe Biden's administration after admitting taking a range of illegal drugs in his book Spare.

Harry described experiences with cannabis, magic mushrooms, ayahuasca and cocaine, prompting questions about whether he disclosed these details to immigration officials.

The foundation argues the public has the right to know whether the Department of Homeland Security simply went soft on Harry because of his royal status, while DHS says ot cannot infringe on the privacy of visa applicants.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation's Thatcher Center for Freedom, told Newsweek it was "100 percent" possible they would win the case: "I was there at the first Federal Court hearing in DC a few weeks ago and that was a 75-minute hearing, very detailed and the federal judge is treating this case very seriously.

"I do think that The Heritage Foundation has a very good chance of winning this because this is a matter of transparency and accountability.

"It goes to the heart of whether Immigration law is being applied and enforced by US authorities and so there are big issues at stake here and the Biden Administration has been very dismissive in its approach."

"The stakes are very high for Harry here if the Department of Homeland Security loses the case and the records are released," he continued.

"We simply don't know what the records contain but it is significant that the Biden administration's doing all it can to stop the release, which is telling in a way."

There is nothing to indicate what, if anything, Harry told immigration officials about his past drug use. Gardiner said: "If it's revealed you lied on a federal form that is perjury and that's a criminal offence. And so yeah, so it is a very high stakes case."

A letter to the foundation from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), contained in evidence at Federal Court in D.C., reads: "We find that you have not provided sufficient public interest to outweigh the Duke of Sussex's right to privacy concerning his entry and exit records.

"Without an individual's consent or an overriding public interest, providing the Duke's entry and exit records would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

Gardiner said: "I do believe we have a very good chance actually of winning. We believe there's a very strong public interest in the release of the records.

"The Biden presidency, the Department of Homeland Security again reiterated their position I think just about three days ago, saying that this is an issue of privacy for Prince Harry even though he's written a best selling book outlining all his drug use, he's given multiple interviews etcetera.

"Harry's a very big public figure in America and he's gone on the record on several issues here so to say this is an issue of privacy is completely ridiculous to me."

Gardiner cited polling by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek from April which showed 54 percent of U.S. adults believe the documents should be disclosed, 29 percent felt they should not and 17 percent did not know.

"I noticed the Newsweek poll a few weeks ago showing around fifty percent of Americans want to see Prince Harry's immigration records reached so it's become an issue of public interest in America and I think the level of interest is going to build significantly in the coming months in this case," he said.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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