Since stepping down from royal duties and moving to California, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have stayed out of American political crossfire. But with Trump’s return to power, Harry’s visa application may be on shaky ground.
Harry and Meghan were somewhat involved in the 2020 election. It’s not like they were actively campaigning, but they encouraged voters to “reject hate speech, misinformation, and online negativity.” Many saw this as a thinly veiled endorsement of Joe Biden. This year, the Sussexes kept their thoughts on the election quiet. Nile Gardiner, Director of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, believes that the couple’s silence is not coincidental. Gardiner thinks that the couple’s silence is connected to Harry’s U.S. visa application.
What would Harry have to hide? In his memoir Spare, Harry made an admission that he enjoyed recreational drug use. This admission was a mistake in retrospect since the Trump administration can use this against him. The U.S. visa applications can hinge on a person’s criminal and drug history. Having a drug history isn’t something that will necessarily stop you from getting a visa. However, if you lied about your drug history in your application, that is something the U.S. has a problem with.
The Heritage Foundation believes Harry lied in his application and is trying to reopen Harry’s visa case. “If Prince Harry has nothing to hide with regard to his immigration application, he should welcome and support the release of his immigration records,” Gardiner said in an interview with GB News. The Heritage Foundation tried to get a court order for the release of Harry’s immigration records, but a judge blocked it back in September. This happened during the Biden administration. Gardiner hopes that things will change once Trump gets into office. “The way in which the Biden administration has approached this has been an absolute disgrace—zero accountability, zero transparency,” Gardiner said in his GB News interview. Should the case be revisited, and if Harry’s disclosures were found lacking, deportation could be on the table.
Trump has made his views of the Sussexes clear. Back in March, he commented on Harry’s drug use, saying that “appropriate action” should be taken if any misinformation surfaced on Harry’s visa form. Trump has also said that he’s “not a fan” of the Duchess. This is why the couple is scared; according to Gardiner, “I would add that I would not be surprised if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are very, very nervous as a result of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. Prince Harry has been shielded and protected by the Biden administration, and he will not be shielded by the next U.S. administration.”
But why would Trump care? He ran his campaign on the promise that he would crack down on immigration. Is putting all this effort into Harry’s case effective? How will this help the southern border? The truth is, this looks like revenge. Trump didn’t like that the Sussexes endorsed Biden in 2020, and he wants to retaliate.
