Decision reached on Prince Harry's Visa application after shock revelations in memoir Spare

Prince Harry's US visa application will remain sealed a court judge ruled on Monday  just hours after the Duke delivered a powerful speech at a UN climate event in New York. 

The Duke of Sussex previously revealed he took drugs in his bombshell memoir Spare, released back in January, which prompted a Washington conservative think tank to question his eligibility to enter the US in 2020. 

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Now, US judge Carl Nichols has ruled that Harry's application will remain sealed as "the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the Duke’s immigration records".

His judgment 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."

The Heritage Foundation brought the lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) after a Freedom of Information Act request was rejected, with the think tank claiming it was of "immense public interest".

Judge Nichols went on to say the public’s interest in the disclosure of Harry’s immigration records is "outweighed by the Duke’s privacy interest".

In Spare, Harry wrote that he tried cocaine which "didn’t do anything for me", adding: "Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me."

The Heritage Foundation’s lawsuit argued that US law "generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry" to the country.

The think tank also said answers on the Duke’s prior drug use in his visa application should have been disclosed as they could raise questions over the US government’s integrity.

The submissions made by lawyer John Bardo on behalf of DHS also said no "publicly available information, shows that Prince Harry was ever convicted for a drug-related offence".

Mr Bardo added that any suggestion from the Heritage Foundation of wrongdoing on behalf of the US government was "purely speculative".