US State Department Withholds 18 Documents Concerning Prince Harry in Freedom of Information Case

The US State Department has withheld 18 documents relating to Prince Harry in a fresh twist to the long-running Freedom of Information Act battle over his visa records. Court filings show the department identified the batch in late July and chose to keep all of them from public view, citing privacy and immigration law exemptions.

To recall, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, first sued the Department of Homeland Security seeking Harry's visa application, arguing Americans had a right to know whether he was truthful about past drug use after he detailed it in his memoir Spare. That case was lost when US District Judge Carl Nichols ruled the duke's privacy interests outweighed any public interest in disclosure.

Heritage then launched a second FOIA suit in 2025 against the State Department, this time asking for all other records it held about Harry, apart from the visa papers themselves. The think tank's aim remains to test whether Harry was honest on his forms and whether he should have been allowed into the US at all, given that prior drug use can bar entry for many applicants.

State Department's Latest FOIA Response on Prince Harry Visa Records

According to a joint status report filed in the District Court for Washington DC, the State Department made its first interim production on 30 July 2026. In that tranche it identified 18 responsive records and withheld every one in full.

Officials have spent months processing material turned up in searches of department computer systems. In total they are working through 307 documents comprising 2,487 pages. Of those, 289 remain under review, with the next joint status report due on 13 October 2026.

The filing cites the Immigration and Nationality Act and standard FOIA exemptions as the basis for withholding. It also notes that the parties will continue to negotiate what, if anything, can be released without breaching privacy protections.

Privacy Concerns Dominate Prince Harry Immigration Documents Dispute

Heritage's legal team has argued that Harry must have been asked about past drug use on his visa forms and would therefore have had to either reveal his experiences with cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and ayahuasca or lie about it.

Government lawyers counter that releasing detailed immigration information would expose him to harassment and unwanted attention.

In the earlier DHS case, Judge Nichols accepted that argument. A memorandum seen by Newsweek recorded his conclusion that the duke retains a privacy interest in these records and that this outweighs any public interest in disclosure. The judge also noted that Harry had never publicly disclosed certain facts that were themselves redacted from the court's own memorandum.

Even if some of the 289 documents still under review are eventually released, they are unlikely to include Harry's core immigration details. FOIA exemptions typically protect that kind of personal data, and the court has already signalled it will not order full disclosure.

A spokesperson for the duke was contacted for comment. Sources close to Harry have consistently maintained he was honest on his US visa application and point to the fact he has lived in Montecito, California, for six years with his wife Meghan and their two children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five.

One oddity in all this is how much energy is being spent chasing paperwork that, even if released, would probably tell us very little about the actual decision-making. The real story, such as it is, has already been told in court: privacy won, and the public's right to know stopped at the edge of Harry's immigration file.

Whether that feels like a victory or a frustration rather depends on how much you believe the royal family already gets a free pass.

Nothing is confirmed yet on what the remaining 289 documents contain, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify these claims, so take everything lightly.