So many things spring to mind at the news that Donald Trump, if elected, may rescind Prince Harry’s US visa because “he betrayed the Queen”. The first, admittedly unworthy, thought is the vision of his brother’s face at the prospect of the prodigal’s return home.
The second is to wonder how many celebs would make it into the US if it were the case that drug-taking — Harry’s memoir, Spare, mentions marijuana and cocaine — could impede a US visa.
The third is the quite astonishing defence of the prince by the US Department of Homeland Security.
On Friday a conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, brought a lawsuit to make Harry’s visa application public. It claims that the US government either gave favourable treatment to Harry or that he fibbed when filling in the bit relating to drug use. The US government argued that the admissions in Harry’s book were not “proof”. John Bardo, for the Department of Homeland Security, said: “Just saying something in a book doesn’t make it true.”
In short, would the Sussexes’ marriage survive a Trump-driven departure from Montecito?
And there we were thinking that Spare, the prince’s autobiography, was a truthful, if terrible, read. The defence of the prince is that he lied. Once, you couldn’t have said that about a member of the royal family. Truth once mattered. Still, for those who feel a batsqueak of unease at the prospect of another Trump presidency, there is a simply joyous upside, viz, that Prince Harry’s claim to residence in the US could be upended.
He might have to take refuge in Canada — the Mounties are hospitable to recruits from every background — or return home. And how would that play with his steely wife, who decamped from the UK to California with as much haste as was compatible with claiming it was everyone else’s fault?
In short, would the Sussexes’ marriage survive a Trump-driven departure from Montecito? It would be tragic if Meghan decided to sit tight and let Harry go. No?
It may not happen, even with a Trump presidency. He may yield to pressure from London. I leave it to you to surmise where that pressure may come from. Just remember that when Harry came home last time, he stayed in an hotel.
