Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s desperate ‘escape plan’ as US eviction threat looms

Donald Trump, who has officially returned to the White House after being sworn in as president again today, has made a string of damning statement about both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Donald Trump is now officially back in the White House – and it could spell a worrying time ahead for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The US president, who is set to be sworn in during an inguaration ceremony today, made a series of damning statements about the Sussexes on the campaign trail – even suggesting Harry could be deported from the United States if he were to get back in the Oval Office.

It comes as Harry has found himself in the centre of a row over his visa, which allows him to live in California. After admitting to using marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms in his controversial memoir Spare, a lawsuit from the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation argued that the US Government should release records about the Duke’s visa US application to show whether his drug use was disclosed.

Before a ruling was made in the case, Mr Trump raged at the Biden administration for maintaining the privacy of Harry’s immigration application to “protect Harry.” He told the Express US: “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”

Days later he was also challenged on this stance on Harry during an interview with Nigel Farage on GB News. Mr Farage asked if there would be any “special privileges” for the prince, and the now president-elect said: “No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.”

Digging deeper, Mr Farage asked: “Appropriate action? Which might mean…not staying in America?” Mr 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 if Mr Trump were to turn on Harry, it seems the couple could have a secret escape plan. Last year, it was reported they had bought a holiday home in Portugal close to where Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank have a pad.

And former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond once mused: “They do now have a bolt hole in Portugal. It’s probably much more than a bolt hole – it’s undoubtedly a very beautiful property and was maybe sourced by Eugenie’s husband, Jack.”

“So, if things get tricky or uncomfortable in the States, Europe may see a little more of Harry and Meghan and their children. My guess, though, is that they will let the dust settle and see how things pan out – they seem very happy in their Californian lifestyle and I’m sure they don’t want to unsettle their children unnecessarily.”

Harry has long been berated by Trump since he and Meghan took the dramatic decision to quit as working royals and move to the United States more than four years ago. Back in 2020 at the time of the last US election campaign between Mr Trump and Joe Biden, the Sussexes appeared in a video urging Americans to ‘vote against hate speech’.

While they did not specifically mention anyone by name, the remarks were interpreted as referring to Mr Trump and therefore an endorsement of Mr Biden, with some claiming it was a breach of the Sandringham Summit agreement, which was written up when the couple quit their royal duties in 2020. Later Mr Trump spoke out saying he was “no fan” of Meghan.

However, there has been a hint that Harry’s visa woes during Trump’s presidency won’t result in him being deported. It comes after Mr Trump’s son Eric suggested before the election that Harry’s visa would be safe because “no one cares” about him and that his wife Meghan is “pretty unpopular”.

Speaking to MailOnline, Eric said: “Truthfully I don’t give a damn about Prince Harry and I don’t think this country does either. My father loved the Queen and I think the monarchy is an incredibly beautiful thing.” He added: “I don’t give a damn if he did drugs. It means nothing. I can tell you that our father and our entire family has tremendous respect for the monarchy.”