Prince Harry jets to New York without Meghan Markle as judge rules US visa application will stay private

24 September 2024, 08:30 | Updated: 24 September 2024, 11:45

Prince Harry met with a European royal as he arrived in New York for a slew of solo engagements.

The Duke of Sussex kicked off his trip to New York City with a handful of engagements, including an appearance at a star-studded dinner organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Harry, 40, met with Queen Mathilde of Belgium at the gala organised to pay tribute to those who survived childhood violence.

Meghan Markle and their two children are not expected to join the Duke in New York.

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Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo attended the dinner alongside officials from Sweden, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Georgia, Canada, Iceland, and Brazil, as well as actor Forest Whitaker.

A spokesperson for the Prince outlined his plans in New York: "During UN General Assembly High-level Week and Climate Week in New York City, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, will be in town to advance a number of his patronages and philanthropic initiatives."

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These meetings include engagements with African Parks, The HALO Trust, and The Diana Award.

Prince Harry’s trip to the Big Apple comes as a US judge confirmed his US visa application would remain private, despite him admitting to taking drugs in his memoir.

Harry's reference to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his book SPARE prompted a conservative Washington DC think tank to question why he was allowed into the US in 2020.

In his ruling, US judge Carl Nichols said: "The public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke's immigration records".

The judgement continued: "Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.

"And the duke's public statements about his travel and drug use did not disclose, and therefore did not eliminate his interest in keeping private, specific information regarding his immigration status, applications, or other materials."

The Heritage Foundation claimed there was "immense public interest" in finding out if Harry’s drug use had played into his visa application.

Judge Nichols went on to say the public's interest in disclosure of Harry's immigration records is "outweighed by the duke's privacy interest".

He said: "Public disclosure of records about a single admission of a foreign national in the circumstances described above would provide the public, at best, limited information about the department's general policy in admitting aliens.

"And the marginal public benefit of knowing that limited information is outweighed by the privacy interest the duke retains in his immigration status and records."

Writing in his bombshell memoir, SPARE, Harry said cocaine "didn't do anything for me", adding: "Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me."