Mr Trump’s remarks coincide with a debate around Prince Harry’s immigration status.
Former United States President Donald Trump has claimed that Prince Harry has “betrayed the Queen” and he would be “on his own” if he wins a second term this year, as per a report in the Independent. Mr Trump was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday and added, “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”
He also attacked President Joe Biden and said that he had been “too gracious” to the Duke of Sussex. Prince Harry moved to the US with Meghan Markle in 2020 and the couple resides with his two kids in California.
The Prince had recently said on Good Morning America that he had “considered” obtaining American citizenship and that he had “no idea” what was holding him back. “The thought has crossed my mind but is not a high priority right now,” he said.
Mr Trump’s remarks coincide with a new wave of debate around Prince Harry’s immigration status, following the claim made by a US conservative think tank that the Duke cannot have legally entered the country since he had admitted taking illegal drugs in his book ‘Spare’.
The 39-year-old Prince acknowledged using cocaine, marijuana, and psychedelic mushrooms in his best-selling book which was released in 2023, but attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security said he could have fabricated the information to make his book more appealing to the followers of the Royal family.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been under fire from the Heritage Foundation for months, claiming that the documents need to be released due to revelations made by the Duke of Sussex in his memoir. As per the Telegraph, they argued that the Duke of Sussex’s previous drug usage should have prohibited him from entering the United States under federal law and that disclosing his application is in the “immense public interest.”
However, John Bardo, a DHS lawyer, stated that releasing the paperwork would be “an unwarranted invasion of Prince Harry’s privacy.” “The records are particularly sensitive because releasing them, even in part, would reveal Prince Harry’s status in the United States, which Prince Harry has not disclosed. Courts consistently hold that a person’s visa or immigration status is private, personal information exempt from disclosure,” the lawyer argued.
It is to be noted that any application for citizenship would require Prince Harry to surrender his title, under US Citizenship and Immigration Services rules. The US immigration policy mentions that “any applicant who has any titles of heredity or positions of nobility in any foreign state must renounce the title or the position.”
