Prince Harry faces new visa bombshell as new details could be made public

Prince Harry is facing new scrutiny over his US visa application after the Donald Trump administration dug up more than 1,000 documents on his immigration file. Now, some of that information may be made public.

Court records show 1,007 papers on the 40-year-old Duke of Sussex were found at the US Department of State, which manages visa applications. They include 217 records from the Office of the Secretary of State - equivalent to the UK's Foreign Secretary. Court filings also show 517 "potentially responsive records" from the Bureau of Consular Affairs, as well as 271 from the Office of the Legal Advisor and two from the Office of the Deputy Secretary of State. All will now be reviewed with a Washington judge to decide what should be made public.

This comes after right-leaning US think-tank the Heritage Foundation sued the State Department in January, having previously taken legal action against the US Department of Homeland Security.

That lawsuit led to the release of dozens of files. However, none of those revealed Harry's visa status or disclosed whether he lied in his application.

The Heritage Foundation asserts in the new court filings that the Prince may have lied about drug taking, while publicly conceding he had used cocaine and marijuana in his memoir, Spare.

Its lawyer Samuel Dewey said the number of papers on Harry "shows they are monitoring him pretty closely".

He said: "I think we're going to see documents from Harry talking about the case, but other material may be withheld. Then it will be up to politicians whether that decision is overruled."

The legal actions has led to speculation Donald Trump could deport Harry, who left the UK for the US with American wife Meghan in 2020.