The US State Department has withheld 18 documents relating to Prince Harry in a fresh update to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case concerning his visa and past drug use.
The Duke of Sussex has lived in America since 2020. A joint status report, filed at the district court in D.C. and seen by Newsweek, confirmed the initial batch of documents had been withheld in their entirety.
State Department review
The department is reviewing 307 documents totalling 2,487 pages, none of which is likely to be publicly released at the moment. The first interim production was made on July 30, 2026, in which it identified 18 responsive records, all withheld.
The case stems from a FOIA request submitted to the department for records regarding Henry Charles Albert David, also known as 'the Duke of Sussex' or 'Prince Harry'.
Background of the case
The right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation initially sued the Department of Homeland Security to get Harry's visa records released, arguing the American public had a right to know whether he was candid about his past drug use on his visa application.
Heritage lost that case after Judge Carl Nichols ruled that Harry's privacy interests outweighed any public interest in disclosure. The think tank's lawyers then filed a new case in 2025 against the State Department, requesting all its other documents about Harry, apart from the visa papers themselves.
Privacy concerns
The think tank wants to know whether Harry lied about his past drug use on his visa forms, and whether he should have been allowed to enter the US with this history, something many people get banned for. Harry's visa documents are unlikely ever to be released in full due to privacy concerns, which the court has consistently determined outweigh the public interest.
Prince Harry's spokesperson has been contacted for comment. Sources close to the duke have always insisted he was truthful on his visa application to the US, where he has lived for six years.
