Harvey Levin dishes on what he learned while filming TMZ's special 'Harry & Meghan: Royals in Crisis'
Harvey Levin shares how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could become billionaires after stepping back as senior royals.
LOS ANGELES – Harvey Levin not only has his thumb on the pulse of Hollywood, but the lively lawyer is also plugged into the goings-on within the royal family in a big way.
Fox News went inside the studios of Thirty Mile Zone (TMZ) and sat down with Levin, who founded the outlet, to pick his brain about what viewers can expect to see from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following their announcement earlier this month that they will take "a step back” as senior members of the royal family.
Levin was tapped by FOX to executive produce “Harry & Meghan: The Royals in Crisis,” an all-new one-hour TMZ special investigation into the couple’s decision. The probe will “cut through the noise, inaccuracies and speculation surrounding the couple’s surprise announcement,” the media release said.
When asked explicitly how Prince Harry, 35, and Markle, 38, might be able to carve out a niche for themselves, Levin said the pair will have no problem earning big money and told Fox News that after speaking with Mark Cuban -- the “Shark Tank” star and owner of the Dallas Mavericks -- he believes they’ll become billionaires.
“Make no mistake about it, Harry and Meghan are incredibly marketable, incredibly marketable," Levin said. "I mean, we talked to Mark Cuban, who knows a thing or two about branding and business and entertainment, and he thinks they're going to be billionaires, and the reason is simple.
“They are sought-after people. They are young, beautiful, intelligent, interesting people and Oprah [Winfrey] has already partnered with Harry on a mental health docuseries,” the "Objectified" host continued of the pair, who said in their Jan. 8. announcement that they will "work to become financially independent" of the crown.
“So [Harry] put his foot in the entertainment pond and Meghan has been in it," Levin said.
"So they are... somebody we interviewed calls them the 'Junior Obamas' when it comes to making money because they are extremely marketable," Levin added, referencing former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
While the 69-year-old maintained that Prince Harry and Markle likely have a windfall looming, Levin made it a point to note that the real variance among the pair of couples largely centers on the fact that the Obamas aren’t royals, thus the former president and first lady don’t have to deal with the queen.
“The difference between Barack and Michelle Obama and Megan and Harry is that Barack and Michelle never left anyone,” Levin said. “And Harry and Megan left their country, and Harry left the family. And that's the difference. And they have to navigate that. The Obamas didn't have to navigate that. They [Harry and Meghan] do.”
When asked what he was most taken aback by throughout his years-long royals coverage leading up to Prince Harry and Markle stepping back, Levin pointed right off the bat to the worldwide spectacle that was their wedding, explaining that there was immense chaos behind the scenes that, according to Levin, would ultimately play a factor in Meghan wanting to leave the U.K.
“I guess the biggest surprise is kind of figuring out under the surface what went wrong with Meghan and Harry in the royal family, and a lot went wrong,” Levin said. “When you covered this glamorous wedding -- which is just like a fairy tale and it's beautiful and everything else -- what you don't know is the nightmare behind it.”
TMZ headman Harvey Levin told Fox News Prince Harry's previous work with Oprah Winfrey positions himself for success in the media spectrum. (Reuters, AP)
“And there were all sorts of problems that the engagement and wedding [have] impaired, if not, destroyed," he claimed. "Relationships between [brother Prince] William and Harry; between Meghan and [William's wife] Kate [Middleton] -- and [it] impaired the relationship between Harry and the queen.”
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“So there have been a lot of problems that you find you when you look below the surface at this glamorous, beautiful event but under the surface, it was anything but," Levin further claimed.
What’s more, Levin believes that Harry and Markle had been planning their "step back" at least six months in advance simply due to the fact Harry allegedly no longer wanted to remain a member of the royal family, and Levin said based on information he’s received from insiders he’s spoken to that the Duke of Sussex likely would have bolted from the family whether Markle was in the picture or not.
“There is no doubt it was more than six months ago that they decided that they wanted to do something like this," Levin said. "But based on what we know, I think it was the better part of 2019 that they knew fairly early on, this just wasn't working out. Even before [their son] Archie was born and they had to make their decisions.”
He continued: “But remember, you're dealing with an American woman who isn't... really has no connection to the royal family and who had trouble fitting in. And then you're dealing with her husband, who doesn't particularly like being a member of the royal family and enjoyed his time away from them. Not that he didn't like his family. He just didn't like the trappings of all of it.”
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“And Harry likes having fun,” Levin added. “Harry likes being on his own. Harry's not necessarily into glamour. And when you look at that backdrop, they were ready for something like this.”
When pressed about what “quiet moves” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have already made, Levin said: “Well, I think success will find them. I don't even think they need to search out success. They are very marketable, desirable people, both of them, and together. And they will make a lot of money.”
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Levin continued: “They can pretty much do what they want to do. So I don't think they're quiet moves, although we're going to get into the quiet moves [in the special] -- I don't know that it's necessary. I think that there are a lot of people that would love to work with Meghan and Harry. And when you look at our queen, Oprah Winfrey, she has already signed Harry up on the dotted line.”
“Harry & Meghan: The Royals in Crisis” airs on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
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