23 February 2024 , 20:56
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A court has reportedly been told Prince Harry's memoir cannot be seen as legal proof that the Duke took drugs - despite his confession in his memoir, Spare.
The Duke of Sussex's admission to taking drugs including cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his autobiography caused huge outcry, and led to Conservative Washington DC think tank The Heritage Foundation asking how he had been granted entry into America in 2020.
The think tank filed a lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) after a Freedom of Information Act request - demanding to see his visa forms - was rejected. The hearing is currently taking place in Washington DC, but government lawyer John Bardo told a DC court “the book isn’t sworn testimony or proof” that the Duke of Sussex did in fact take illegal drugs.
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A lawyer says Prince Harry may have embellished his drug use to sell books (Getty Images)Bardo, a lawyer for the Biden administration, is said to have argued that Prince Harry ’s memoir is not “proof” he took drugs and could have been embellished to “sell books”, according to the Telegraph.
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The Heritage Foundation has argued that Harry's seeming confession about his past drug use should have disqualified him from entry into the US. But Bardo reportedly told the court: "Saying something in a book doesn’t necessarily make it true."
The Heritage Foundation has suggested the prince was either not truthful in his application, or was given favourable treatment after being allowed access into the country before staying there as a resident. The lawsuit against the DHS was brought by the Heritage who claim Harry's visa application was of "immense public interest".
On Friday in court, there was also said to have been concerns raised by the court's judge, Judge Carl J Nicholas, about people referring to the Duke as Prince Harry was too informal. It's said he expressed his concerns that it felt “very uncomfortable” to refer to him as such and instead reportedly told them The Duke of Sussex was a more appropriate way of naming him.