Prince Harry files release nears as government reviews 2,500 pages

The U.S. State Department is preparing to release the first tranche of thousands of pages of documents relating to Prince Harry following a lawsuit over his visa records.

The Heritage Foundation previously sued the Department of Homeland Security seeking access to Harry's visa records but the court upheld Prince Harry’s privacy rights over his visa application in 2025.

However, the right wing think tank then filed a new case against the U.S. State Department seeking other documents it holds relating to Prince Harry. This led to a review of 307 documents comprising 2,487 pages which officials have spent months processing.

Court filings seen by Newsweek show the State Department hopes to begin releasing these files at the end of July potentially offering a rare glimpse into how the Duke of Sussex is discussed within the U.S. government.

Newsweek approached Harry's team for comment. The State Department told Newsweek it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

The Heritage Foundation will not get the actual visa papers they initially requested but will be on the lookout for material that could support their wider argument that Harry was given special treatment by immigration officials when he moved to America.

The added scrutiny of Prince Harry's relationship with America comes at a time when his focus appears increasingly to be shifting back to Britain.

Heritage filed their original case against the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] in an effort to discover what the prince said in his visa application about past drug use.

Heritage cited passages in Harry's memoir, Spare, in which he described taking drugs including cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and ayahuasca, and argued that this should have rendered him ineligible to enter the United States.

Lawyers for Heritage told the court Harry must either have failed to declare his past drug use or been given favorable treatment.

Judge Carl J. Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in March 2025 that some documents related to the case could be released but not the actual application, meaning there was still no clear insight into what, if anything, Harry wrote on his visa application about past drug use.

Among the unsealed files was a document stating that release of the application itself could expose Harry to "harassment as well as unwanted contact by the media."

DHS also refuted Heritage's allegations in a filing seen at the time by Newsweek: "[Heritage] allege that the records should be disclosed as public confidence in the government would suffer or to establish whether the Duke was granted preferential treatment.

"This speculation by [Heritage] does not point to any evidence of government misconduct. The records, as explained above, do not support such an allegation."

A court filing, seen by Newsweek, was submitted jointly by Heritage and the State Department in June and read: "The State Department anticipates making its first production of nonexempt portions of responsive records at the end of July 2026. Following that, the Department will make regular productions every eight weeks."

Officials initially refused the request citing privacy in relation to Harry's visa records but pivoted once it became clear that Heritage were requesting other files that are not part of his visa application.

"The Department initially understood that Plaintiffs’ (Heritage's) request was limited to Visa Case records, which the Department would categorically withhold under Exemption 3," an August 2025 filing read.

"After discussions, the Department now understands that [Heritage] would like the Department to proceed with processing the identified documents in its usual course."

An early search returned more than one million records but this was refined down to a smaller pool of around 1,000 documents that were then subject to a "responsiveness review," filings show.

The files were largely drawn from the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Office of the Legal Advisor, with two from the Office of the Deputy Secretary of State and 217 from the Office of the Secretary.

By February 2026, a further status update confirmed the files had been further refined: "The Department reports there are 307 records consisting of 2,487 pages of potentially responsive material to be processed. At this point, the Department has begun reviewing and processing the documents."

Once publication of the documents begins, their release will have been a product of months of work.

While it is not clear exactly what the documents will show, Harry has connections with the State Department that are not related to his visa, including through his Invictus Games, an Olympic-style tournament for veterans.

For example, former President Joe Biden announced in 2023 that a presidential delegation would attend that year's Invictus Games in Germany, including Amy Gutmann, at the time America's ambassador to Germany, and John Tien, former deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

If the planning of that visit produced internal documents at the State Department that referenced Prince Harry, then they may have been included in the searches carried out by officials.

It remains unclear what the documents show and for Harry the risk to his reputation is not confined to the terms of the original visa dispute.

The possibility remains that some of the documents being reviewed could relate to wider discussion of the duke and his public projects among government officials and thus reveal how he is truly thought of in government.

Either way, the discussion comes at a time when Harry's public focus appears to be shifting from America to Britain, with a summer visit to the U.K. approaching at which he will promote the 2027 Invictus Games, in Birmingham, England.

News.com.au and the Daily Telegraph reported last week that Harry will bring his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to his home country for the first time in four years and Meghan is also expected to attend.

The BBC and other outlets reported over the weekend that Harry has been offered a room at a royal residence, which if correct would help his security concerns since royal residences are protected by the Metropolitan Police.

Meghan on Friday posted a Father's Day photo of Archie wearing an England soccer T-shirt getting a hug from his father. The image also showed Harry hugging Lilibet.

D.C. and Birmingham were the two cities shortlisted to host the 2027 games, creating a choice between Harry's home country and his new country. In July 2024, it was announced that the U.K. had won its bid to host the games in Birmingham.