What is the relationship like with Prince Harry and Donald Trump? British royal's US visa row explained

The Duke of Sussex now lives a markedly quieter life in California with his wife Meghan Markle than he was used to in Britain. But while he now focuses on charity work, occasional Netflix production, and looking after his family, one aspect of living Stateside that Harry may not have bargained on is that it has brought him into closer contact with Donald Trump.

The US president is monitoring a situation around legal action to potentially revoke the prince’s US visa if Harry is seen to have lied on his application regarding his previous drug use. A right-wing pressure group called the Heritage Foundation has pressed for a lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security over the visa.

It comes after Harry, in his memoir Spare, admitted using cannabis and cocaine, and magic mushrooms which the foundation says in its lawsuit “generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry” to the country. Homeland has so far refused to make the visa application public to show whether or not the prince lied.

“Much like health, financial, or employment information, a person’s immigration information is private personal information,” a statement read. Anyone caught lying on a visa application can face up to five years in prison or deportation. Harry has so far not commented on the case, but that cannot be said for Mr Trump.

A year after Mr Trump’s 2019 visit, Harry and Meghan departed The Firm for a new life in the US and the then-president said that this action had “betrayed the Queen”. That same year Mr Trump was voted out of the White House and, naturally, their run-ins were fewer and further between. But this changed in 2024 when Mr Trump was re-elected.

The new US president said he would not bother to deport Harry over the visa issue, adding: “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”. He added: “I think William is a great young man.”. Prince Harry would not say anything outwardly political although he did perhaps give the strongest hint of his real feelings to Mr Trump at the Invictus Games.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, just hours after Mr Trump called his wife “terrible”, the Duke called out “weak moral character” in the world. He told athletes: “At this moment, when there is no shortage of crises, no absence of uncertainty, no lack of weak moral character in the world, the values you embody, the way you carry yourselves – not only at the Invictus Games, but each and every day – your courage, your resilience, your humanity, illuminate a path forward for us all.”.

Whether affected by this or the Heritage Foundation, Mr Trump later changed his tune and suggested that he in fact would be taking potential issue over the visa. A source said on February 16: “President Trump has made it very clear that if Harry is found to have not told the truth on his visa application, then he could face prosecution. If Harry answered the drugs question truthfully, that would have triggered a visa waiver process whereby he would have been interviewed and given a waiver. If that is the case, the public has a right to know.”.