Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 'back-up plan' if Donald Trump kicks them out
by Annabal Bagdi, Julia Banim, https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/authors/annabal-bagdi/ · Birmingham LiveDonald Trump is set to become the next president of the United States - and it's thought he could follow through with a certain vow he made against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The 78-year-old previously warned he would take 'appropriate action' when it came to the Duke of Sussex.
The Republican previously addressed passages in Prince Harry's bombshell 2023 memoir Spare. In the book, Prince Harry detailed his experience with drugs.
In one passage, the 40-year-old recounted an experience with magic mushrooms at a Hollywood party. He said: "I stared at the bin. It stared back. 'What-staring? ' Then it became... a head. I stepped on the pedal and the head opened its mouth. A huge open grin."
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The dad-of-two also confessed that cocaine 'didn't do anything' for him. But he said: "Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me."
Despite his candid admissions, it is understood that Trump was less than impressed. During an interview with GB News earlier this year, Trump was quizzed by Nigel Farage on whether there would be 'special privileges' for Harry.
Trump replied: "No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action." Farage then pressed: "Appropriate action? Which might mean…not staying in America?"
Trump responded: "Oh I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago." But it's believed that Harry and Meghan have a 'back up plan' in place should Harry gets kicked out of America, Mirror reports.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers told The Sun: "I wouldn't be at all surprised if he suddenly said 'Right, I'm sending Prince Harry out of this country'.
"And the reasons that he would use would be the drug issue, because Prince Harry has admitted to taking marijuana, cocaine, magic mushrooms - and may not have filled that in on his visa form."
Hugo added: "I think it's very wise to take all the possibilities into account [and look to live elsewhere]. Looking at it from the outside, it makes perfect sense that they should have a backup plan.
"But Meghan is very US-based and [Harry being kicked out] would be a problem for them." Butthe Sussexes could already have somewhere in mind - their new holiday home in Portugal.
It is close to one owned by Harry's younger cousin Princess Eugenie, 34, and her husband Jack Brooksbank, 38. According to Mail Online, this purchase could have allowed the Duke and Suchess to obtain a 'Golden Visa' - which would get them visa-free access to the European Union's Schengen area.
But royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Express that it is unlikely Portugal will become the Sussexes' new permanent home. Fitzwilliams said: "I don’t think that the home in Portugal is intended as a permanent base to replace California.
"Harry was extremely foolish to discuss his drug taking in Spare both in interviews and in the memoir, available in paperback. However, the Sussexes have kept a relatively low profile during the Election, urging Americans to vote but not being explicit as to whom for."
He added: "At one time it was thought that Meghan might enter politics but we have seen no sign of this. It is most unlikely that Trump would risk an embarrassing episode involving the royal family by expelling Harry, if it was discovered that he had not revealed his drug taking on his Visa application."
During the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC in February, Trump told the Daily Express US that he believed the Royal Family had been 'too gracious' to Prince Harry. He hinted that he would not protect him should he return to power, as he felt President Joe Biden had done.
Trump said: "I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me." He added: "I think they have been too gracious to him after what he has done."
A lawsuit filed by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation previously argued that the Government should release records about Harry's visa US application to show whether or not his drug use was disclosed. The Washington-based foundation argued that 'widespread and continuous' coverage of the Duke's drug use called into question whether or not he had been 'properly vetted' before being allowed into the US.
The group said that under US law, drug use 'generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry'. But in September, a US judge ruled that Harry's application should remain private.
Carl Nichols said 'the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke's immigration records'. He added: "Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status."