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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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The U.S. State Department has withheld 18 documents relating to Prince Harry and will continue reviewing hundreds more in a Freedom of Information Act case related to his visa and past drug use, court documents show.
The right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation initially sued the Department of Homeland Security, seeking the release of Harry's visa records and arguing the American public had a right to know whether he was candid about his use of narcotics.
Heritage lost the case after Judge Carl Nichols ruled that Harry's privacy interests outweighed any public interest in disclosure. Lawyers for Heritage filed a new case in 2025 against the State Department requesting all its other documents about Harry, apart from the visa papers themselves.
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Newsweek approached Harry's representatives for comment.
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Why It Matters
During the initial case, Heritage argued that Harry's past drug use should have made him ineligible for entry to the United States if it was disclosed. If it was not disclosed, the think tank argued, that raised a separate question about whether he had been truthful on immigration forms. The think tank suggested either scenario could put his visa status in doubt, though immigration experts told Newsweek this would be highly unusual without a criminal conviction.
Heritage's latest FOIA request is unlikely to reveal any of Harry's private immigration information, as that would be considered ineligible for release. However, there is a possibility some documents could be made publicly showing how the prince was discussed in Government.
The State Department Withholds 18 Documents
Government officials have spent months processing material turned up in searches of State Department computer systems and, at the end of July, took a decision in relation to an initial batch of 18 documents. In total, they are working through 307 documents, comprising 2,487 pages in total.
However, anyone hoping for a first chance to see Government records about the royal may be disappointed to discover that they chose to withhold the files in their entirety.
A joint status report, filed at the district court in D.C. and seen by Newsweek, read: "This case stems from a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request that Plaintiffs submitted to the Department for records regarding Henry Charles Albert David, also known as 'the Duke of Sussex' or 'Prince Harry.'
"The State Department made its first interim production in this case on July 30, 2026, in which it identified 18 responsive records, all withheld in their entirety." The Immigration and Nationality Act and FOIA exemptions were cited as justifications.
That leaves 289 responsive documents still under review and it remains possible some may be disclosed publicly. The filing suggested "the parties will file their next joint status report on October 13, 2026."
Heritage's Original Visa Lawsuit
Heritage argued Harry must have been asked about past drug use on his visa forms and would therefore have had to either reveal his experiences of taking cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and ayahuasca or lie about it. They suggested either path should have made him ineligible without special treatment. Immigration experts told Newsweek during the case that it is possible to obtain a waiver.
Heritage suggested the American public had a right to know whether Harry had been given favorable treatment due to his status as a royal family member.
However, Judge Carl Nichols sided with the U.S. Government. A memorandum, seen by Newsweek, summarized his reasons and read: "The government argues that the Duke has a privacy interest that outweighs any public interest in those records and has therefore withheld them (and, with respect to one category, has declined to confirm whether they exist at all)."
"The Court agrees that the Duke's privacy interest outweighs any public interest, and therefore grants Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment," Nichols concluded.
The judge noted that the Duke had never publicly disclosed a series of facts that were themselves redacted from the memorandum. "That is the 'type of information that a person would ordinarily not wish to make known about himself' and therefore the government has demonstrated that the Duke retains a privacy interest in these records," the memorandum said.
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Donald Trump and Prince Harry's Visa
After Heritage lost the case in 2024 the think tank took aim at the redactions in the judge's memorandum, telling Newsweek in a statement that "the Prince Harry scandal just got a lot more suspicious."
"President Trump has already suggested that Prince Harry will be deported next year and the case for that just got a lot more compelling," Mike Howell, executive director of the think tank's Oversight Project continued.
"Americans deserve an immigration system with both secure borders and also fairly applied rules for high-profile immigrants like Harry," he added.
Donald Trump had been asked about Harry's visa in a 2024 interview with Nigel Farage on GB News and replied: "We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action."
That November Trump was re-elected president but ultimately did not deport Harry. Asked in February 2025 whether he would intervene, the president said: "I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
Any future disclosures could provide Heritage with additional information to scrutinize either Harry's treatment by government agencies or the State Department's handling of the request.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Cristina Diciu.
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