Prince Harry leaves door open to US citizenship

Prince Harry last night left the door open to taking up US citizenship by saying he would not be eligible to vote in ‘this’ presidential election. 

‘This election, I’m not going to be able to vote here in the US,’ the Duke of Sussex said, adding that he had never voted in Britain either because convention dictates that the royal family keep out of politics. 

Harry’s remark leaves open the possibility that he could seek to vote in a future election in the US, which would likely require him to obtain a ‘green card’ and stay in America for at least three years.

Meghan and Harry have commented more openly on politics since quitting frontline royal duties earlier this year, and urged Americans to use their vote in a Time 100 message seen by many viewers as a thinly-veiled endorsement of Joe Biden. 

A source close to Harry declined to comment on whether his words suggested he would be applying for dual citizenship.

‘They are not working royals. They are private citizens and it’s understandable they want to keep those matters private,’ the source said. 

Meghan is eligible to vote in US elections as an American citizen – as her son Archie will be when he is old enough. 

Harry’s current immigration status in the US is not clear, but there are a range of visas available to British nationals. 

These include the O-1 visa for ‘individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement’, for example people with ‘sustained national or international acclaim’.  

Harry has not announced any plans to take up dual nationality and a source told the Sunday Times earlier this year that he had not applied for a green card. 

Green cards offer a route to citizenship because the spouse of a US national can apply for naturalisation after being a permanent resident for three years.  

If citizenship is granted, Harry could vote in US elections and one day even run for office – although not for president, because the commander-in-chief must be a ‘natural born citizen’.  

If Harry chose the three-year green card route, he could theoretically naturalise as a US citizen in time for the 2024 presidential election. 

However, it also requires that the applicant be ‘physically present in the United States for at least 18 months’ out of the preceding three years.  

When ‘Megxit’ was announced in January, the couple said they would split their time between Britain and North America after quitting royal duties. 

But the coronavirus pandemic has limited their mobility and the couple have been staying in California since relocating from Canada earlier this year. 

The couple could also face a tax headache if they split their time between Britain, the US and possibly Canada.  

Last month it emerged that Harry and Meghan had bought a $14.7million home in California which includes sprawling gardens, a library, gym and wine cellar. 

‘They do have a mortgage, but they see this as their own place, free from relying on anyone else – a proper family home,’ a source said. 

The couple have also repaid the £2.4million of taxpayers’ money that was used to renovate Frogmore Cottage, their previous home near Windsor Castle. 

Frogmore will remain the couple’s home when they visit the UK, a spokesman for the couple said last month. 

The Duke and Duchess made their latest political intervention on Tuesday in a video accompanying the Time 100 list in which they urged Americans to vote in November.  

Harry told voters to ‘reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity’ while Meghan called the presidential race the ‘most important election of our lifetime’. 

‘When we vote, our values are put into action and our voices are heard. Your voice is a reminder that you matter, because you do and you deserve to be heard,’ she said.  

The couple did not endorse a candidate but many viewers thought it was ‘obvious’ they were backing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 

DailyMail.com editor-at-large Piers Morgan said: ‘Prince Harry poking his woke nose into the US election and effectively telling Americans to vote against President Trump is completely unacceptable behaviour for a member of the Royal Family.’

Royal biographer Robert Jobson told DailyMail.com that it ‘may be easier’ for Meghan and Harry to give up their royal titles altogether given the ‘business and political agenda they appear to want to pursue’. 

‘Frankly, I think it would be better for Harry to withdraw, along with his son, from the line of succession to avoid further confusion,’ he said. 

He added: ‘By saying they are HRHs and the Duke and Duchess, but not allowed to use the titles, just confuses the situation.

‘With that issue out of the way, Meghan encouraging people to vote is something that would be praised not criticised.

‘She speaks well and has passion for political issues. Without a royal title to hold her back it may set her free to pursue a political career.

‘Ditching his title, and that includes ‘Prince’, would free up Harry too, in the land where he says he is happy and wants to make this life and where titles mean nothing.’ 

In the UK, any royal partisanship would compromise the neutrality which is key to Britain’s constitution and the reputation of the monarchy. 

But such issues would not arise in the US, where Meghan openly criticised Trump before she joined the royal family. 

The former TV actress ridiculed the then-presidential candidate Trump during a 2016 appearance on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.

She said Trump was ‘misogynistic and divisive’ and indicated her support for Hillary Clinton. 

Harry is a friend of former president Barack Obama, interviewing him on a guest-edited episode of BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme in 2017.  

‘Part of my role and part of my job is to shine a spotlight on issues that need that spotlight, whether it’s people, whether it’s causes, issues, whatever it is,’ Harry said at the time.

‘So I will continue to play my part in society and do my job to the best of my abilities so that I can wake up in the morning and feel energised.’ 

Earlier this year, two Russian pranksters said they had duped Harry into criticising Trump in a phone call where they posed as climate activist Greta Thunberg. 

‘I don’t mind saying this to you guys, I think the mere fact that Donald Trump is pushing the coal industry so big in America, he has blood on his hands,’ Harry allegedly said. 

Buckingham Palace did not confirm or deny the authenticity of the call.   

This week, feminist activist Gloria Steinem revealed that Markle had joined her in cold-calling Americans and urging them to vote.

Steinem told Access Hollywood: ‘She came home to vote. The first thing we did, and why she came to see me, was we sat at the dining room table where I am right now and we cold-called voters.’

‘Said ‘hello I’m Meg’ and ‘hello I’m Gloria’ and ‘are you going to vote?’ That was her initiative.’

Meghan has also told Steinem she was ‘so excited’ to see fellow mixed-race woman Kamala Harris nominated for vice president, in another strong hint that she is backing the Democratic ticket.