“Harry could be exiled to Botswana after he was deported from the United States due to an expired visa.”
Prince Harry wasn’t deported from the United States and King Charles isn’t exiling him to Botswana
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- Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, were recently asked to leave their home on the grounds of Windsor Castle west of London. But we found no evidence to support claims that Harry was deported from the U.S., or that he will be dispatched against his will to Botswana.
British royal family fan fiction is alive and well on Facebook, where claims that Prince Harry has been deported from the United States and is facing a forcible exile in southern Africa are drawing attention.
“Harry could be exiled to Botswana after he was deported from the United States due to an expired visa,” a narrator says in a video shared on Facebook on March 12. The post alleges that King Charles rubber-stamped a plan hatched by Harry’s brother, Prince William, to exile Harry to Botswana without a ticket back to the United Kingdom.
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, live in California after eschewing royal life in the United Kingdom for the United States. On March 3, they christened their daughter at their home in Montecito, according to People magazine and other outlets.
The couple was recently asked to leave their home on the grounds of Windsor Castle west of London, but we found no evidence to support claims that Harry was deported from the U.S., or that he will be dispatched against his will to Botswana.
We looked for mentions of a U.S. deportation and Botswana exile in publications such as Hello!, a royalist magazine, and British tabloids that report on royal minutiae, and discovered none. On March 7, Sky News Australia reported on comments by the network’s anchor Piers Morgan, who speculated that “Prince Harry could be denied entry to the United States” if he leaves following a recent acknowledgement that he used psychedelic drugs.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, meaning King Charles serves in a symbolic role in government. He can’t force Harry to Botswana, which gained independence from Britain in the mid-1960s and was the site of Harry and Meghan’s third date.
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Our Sources
Facebook post, March 12, 2023
The Associated Press, Harry, Meghan asked to leave UK home in further royal rift, March 1, 2023
Elle, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on Dating in Secret and What Really Happened on Their Botswana Trip, Dec. 8, 2022
Hello!, Prince Harry latest news, updated March 13, 2023
Entertainment Tonight, Prince William, King Charles, Kate Middleton skip Lilibet's christening despite invite from Harry and Meghan, March 8, 2023
People, Meghan and Harry's daughter Princess Lilibet christened in intimate California ceremony, March 8, 2023
Sky News Australia, Prince Harry’s US visa could be revoked following admissions of drug use in a recent online therapy session, Piers Morgan has argued, March 7, 2023
Embassy of the Republic of Botswana, History of Botswana, visited March 13, 2023
The Week, What powers does King Charles III have?, Sept. 16, 2022
