Meghan and Harry should be VERY worried – Donald Trump is unpredictable & WON’T hold back in visa row, expert says
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle should be very worried about Donald Trump who “won’t hold back” amid the Duke’s visa row, a royal expert has claimed.
Harry’s controversial admission of drug use in Spare opened up an intense debate into whether he should be allowed to stay in the country.
A requirement of the visa is a tick box on whether he’d taken drugs, with many suggesting he may have lied.
Yesterday morning Trump won a crushing election victory to seal his spot in the White House for another term.
The newly elected president previously vowed if he was voted back into office that “Harry is on his own”.
Now, The Sun’s Bronte Coy has spoken to two royal experts on our Royal Exclusive show on what Trump’s victory could mean for the Duke of Sussex.
Filling in for Matt Wilkinson, Bronte quizzed Sarah Hewson and Chris Ship on their thoughts about the nature of Harry’s visa row.
Royal expert Chris said: “I think they should be worried about Trump’s unpredictability.
“He can say one thing and doesn’t do it or he ends up doing something completely different.
“When Trump gets into the White House he may have an entirely different view on the visa row than what he said before.
“We know what Meghan’s political views are like and she won’t be happy Trump has won.
“At some point of his presidency, he will be asked about it and we just don’t know what that will be.”
Broadcaster and royal correspondent Sarah added: “He won’t hold back though will he.
“Trump will surely have bigger fish to fry but he’s made no secret of his feelings towards Meghan and Harry and the damage they’ve done to the royal family.
“The big issue is that we don’t know the status of Harry’s visa.
“However, it’s something that is not going to go away and that makes things difficult for both Harry and Meghan.”
Chris added that Harry had made a problem for himself by writing everything down in a book for everyone to read.
The returning president addressed Harry’s visa row earlier this year, saying: “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”
It is not known what was stated on Harry’s visa form.
American think-tank The Heritage Fund previously appealed the decision made by the Biden administration to keep Harry’s visa details private.
Among the shocking claims made in Harry’s memoir Spare, he referenced the times he did lines of cocaine at 17 before experimenting with psychedelic mushrooms and smoking marijuana.
It prompted a Washington DC think tank to question why he was allowed into the US in 2020.
It filed a 13-page motion to the court to try to reopen the case, arguing “iron-clad guardrails” were broken.
Ahead of the 2020 election which he lost to Joe Biden, the Sussexes called on the public to vote and “reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity” in what was interpreted as a swipe at Trump.
The Duchess of Sussex added that the election was “the most important election of our lifetime” but the pair have been quiet during this year’s vote.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s representatives have been contacted for comment.
Harry's visa row
By Ethan Singh
IN September a judge ruled Harry’s visa documents would NOT be made public despite his admission that he took drugs.
Harry’s reference to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his book Spare prompted a conservative Washington, DC think tank to question why he was allowed into the US in 2020.
However, in a major boost for the Duke of Sussex, Judge Carl Nichols said Harry had a “reasonable privacy interest” in relation to his US immigration paperwork and therefore it should stay private.
The judge did, however, agree Harry had revealed “intimate details” of his life in his memoir – which included a description of his private parts freezing.
And Harry’s privacy interests were somewhat diminished by him being a public figure, the judge said.
The decision comes after Judge Nichols spent five months reviewing Harry’s immigration file as part of a case brought by the Heritage Foundation.
The organisation sued the Department of Homeland Security after it refused a Freedom of Information request to see immigration files on Harry — now a US resident.
Heritage claims Harry may have lied on the forms under the section which asks if you have been a drug user.
Now, in his ruling seen in court documents today, Judge Nichols said “the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records”.
His judgement added: “Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.
“And the duke’s public statements about his travel and drug use did not disclose, and therefore did not eliminate his interest in keeping private, specific information regarding his immigration status, applications, or other materials.”
At the court in Washington, D.C., Judge Nichols noted that Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ sold more than 1.4 million copies on its first day on sale and became a New York Times bestseller.
Judge Nichols said that the book “shares intimate details of his life” including “numerous instances” where Harry took drugs.
In the view of the judge, Harry had a “reasonable privacy interest in his immigration records”.
Judge Nichols said Heritage is “partially correct that as a public figure, the Duke’s public statements tend to diminish his privacy interests compared to ordinary foreign nationals admitted to the United States“.
The opinion states: “But it (Heritage) goes too far in arguing that the privacy interest is so diminished by his public statements as to be de minimis (Latin for very small).”
Judge Nicholas added the Duke’s public statements about his drug use did not eliminate his interest in keeping private information about his immigration status.
Heritage’s argument that revealing Harry’s paperwork would shed light on the workings of DHS “fails”, the ruling states.
“For the reasons discussed, the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the Duke’s immigration records”, the order states
The judge said some documents submitted to him by DHS were “of particular relevance” but the sentence was followed by a large paragraph that is redacted.
Another large section of ‘particularly relevant’ information was also redacted.
DHS has handed over Harry’s immigration paperwork in April for Judge Nichols to review.
He wanted to see the ‘particular harm’ that would arise from the material being made public.
Judge Nichols told Homeland Security its arguments so far, including during a hearing in February, were ‘insufficiently detailed’ for him to decide.