Prince Harry ‘DID tell US officials about drug use’ – as visa row rumbles on

PRINCE Harry declared his past drug use when applying for his US visa, it is claimed.

In his autobiography Spare and several TV interviews, the Duke of Sussex admitted to experimenting with cocaine, marijuana, magic mushrooms and ayahuasca.

Questions were previously raised about how the 38-year-old was granted permission to stay in the country as the substances are tightly controlled or banned.

Residency permits are often denied when answering ‘yes’ to the question: “Have you ever violated any law related to possessing, using or distributing illegal drugs?” or “Are you or have you ever been a drug abuser or addict?” – or following interviews and rigorous testing.

Some believed Harry did not tell officials of his history – or may have received special treatment due to his family’s status or wife Meghan Markle‘s fame.

But a source close to the prince told The Telegraph that he was “truthful” on his visa application, suggesting he disclosed his drug-taking.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research institute, has requested a copy of Harry‘s documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Freedom of Information Act.

If it is found he lied on his forms, he could be kicked out of the country, experts say.

The foundation’s attorney and former top Congressional counsel Samuel Dewey told the Daily Mail: “Was preferential treatment given to Prince Harry because of who he was?

“Was the process not followed? If it wasn’t, that’s a big deal.

“Individuals in the past with that history have not been let into the country.”

In 2014, TV chef Nigella Lawson was banned from boarding a flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles four months after she confessed to experimenting with narcotics.

The late singer Amy Winehouse was also denied entry to the country to attend the Grammy Awards in 2008 because of admissions of her battle with drug addiction.

Lawyers believe Harry’s visa could be revoked and he could be deported.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Page Six that “an admission of drug use is usually grounds for inadmissibility” and stressed there is “no exception for royalty”.

Talking to GB News, royal commentator Kinsey Schofield added: “Immigration attorneys here in the States are saying that there are two ways that deportation could loom over Prince Harry.

“That’s if he’s caught doing a crime, which we heard him say in his pay-per-view interview, where he was openly discussing illegal drug use.

“Or if in this visa application, he lied about his drug use, that could actually result in deportation, too.”

‘NO EXCEPTION FOR ROYALTY’

And Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom, said: “What we are asking is whether [Harry] was open and transparent with the application, whether there were any particular favours given, was he treated differently to everybody else.

“We believe in the rule of law.”

People who emigrate to the US are typically given a three-year visa, so Harry may need to re-apply, or try for a Green Card or citizenship, later this year.

If initially rejected, he could request to have follow-ups with medical examiners over several months.

In his memoir, the duke, who lives in California, admitted he regularly smoked cannabis and misused alcohol as a teenager.

He then tried cocaine for the first time aged 17 while on a hunting weekend, before snorting “a few more lines” on several other occasions.

In a subsequent TV interview, the prince admitted using Class A ayahuasca, a high from Amazon rainforest vines, to help him cope with the trauma of his mum Princess Diana’s 1997 death.

He also described his hallucinogenic experiences under the effects of magic mushrooms – which included talking to a bin.

US immigration authorities have until April 12 to respond to the Heritage Foundation.