Donald Trump Slams Prince Harry's 'Unforgivable' Royal Family Betrayal
The 2024 presidential election is set to be a major moment for Americans, but it seems that the Duke of Sussex may also have a stake in the contentious political race. As Prince Harry faces uncertainty regarding his U.S. visa, former President Donald Trump has revealed that, if re-elected, he has no interest in helping out the estranged royal.
"I wouldn't protect him. He betrayed the queen. That's unforgivable," Trump said in an interview with Daily Express. "He would be on his own if it was down to me." The controversial political figure also accused the Biden administration of "protecting Harry" amidst a lawsuit centering around the validity of the royal's immigration status.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in 2023, calling for the release of Prince Harry's immigration records. The lawsuit was prompted by the release of "Spare," a memoir in which the Duke admits to previous drug use. While Prince Harry has been living in California with his wife Meghan Markle since 2020, his future in the U.S. is being called into question.
Trump criticized Prince Harry's relationship with the late queen
When slamming The Duke of Sussex, Donald Trump didn't specify how Prince Harry had betrayed the late Queen Elizabeth II. However, the former president, who had an emotional reaction to the queen's death, is likely referring to Prince Harry's general estrangement from the royal family. The conflict came to a boiling point when he and Meghan Markle stepped down as "'senior' members of the Royal Family" in January 2020.
Following their public announcement, the queen released her own statement about the change. "Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family," she shared. Despite the queen's apparent support, the royal couple's decision to defect from their long-standing roles remains a controversial one.
On top of this, Robert Hardman alleged in his book "Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story." that the queen was upset by statements made by the couple about the naming of their daughter Princess Lilibet. The couple announced that Queen Elizabeth had approved of the name, which was inspired by her childhood nickname, but Hardman reported that this wasn't the truth. "The root of the issue was not Harry and Meghan naming their daughter Lilibet," he told Us Weekly. "It was when they said that this had all been done with [the queen's] blessing."
The legal battle around Prince Harry's immigration status
Donald Trump's statements about Prince Harry seem to reference the ongoing legal battle surrounding the royal's U.S. visa. Though the former president doesn't feel obliged to protect the Duke of Sussex if he's re-elected come November 2023, he believes that the Biden administration is already doing so. This comment comes after a Freedom of Information Act request for the prince's immigration papers was denied by the DHS in June 2023, with the department arguing that these documents are generally excluded from FOIA.
The Heritage Foundation's legal actions were a response to Prince Harry's admissions of previous drug use, which he discusses in his memoir "Spare." In the book, the royal admits to smoking marijuana with friends during his youth and experimenting with cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms while trying to deal with the grief surrounding his mother's death. The foundation argues that these admissions call into question the validity of his visa, as previous drug use can potentially disqualify applicants.
So far, the DHS appears committed to maintaining Prince Harry's privacy. "The mere acknowledgment of these records would constitute an unwarranted invasion of Prince Harry's privacy," the department said in a court filing. "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" (per News).