Meghan Markle and Prince Harry; Tyler Perry.Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty
Tyler Perryis a proud godfather toMeghan MarkleandPrince Harry’s daughter!
The filmmaker, 54, appeared on the latest podcast episode ofLet’s Talk Off-Camera with Kelly Ripa,where he chatted about his close relationship with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as well as their two children: 4-year-oldPrince Archieand 2-year-oldPrincess Lilibet.
Ripa asked about hisrole as godfatherto Princess Lilibet, prompting Perry to reveal his sweet nickname for her: “Little Lili.”
“She’s so adorable,” he said. “Oh, she’s so beautiful. She’s just so beautiful.”
“They make beautiful babies — that’s all I’ll say,” Perry continued. “They make some beautiful kids. Archie and Lili are beautiful.”
Perry first revealed that Meghan, 42, and Prince Harry, 39, asked him to be Lili’s godfather on theNetflixseriesHarry & Meghanwhich debuted late last year. After Lili was born in June 2021, Perry recalled a phone call with the couple when they “were pretty serious.”
“I go, ‘Okay, what’s going on?’ They said, ‘Well, we’d like for you to be Lili’s godfather.’ I go, ‘Whoa,’ " Perry explained. “I had to take a minute to take that in. And I thought, ‘I’d be honored. I’d absolutely be honored.’ "
After getting off the call and thinking about the ask, Perry realized his agreement came with a bit of a condition.
“I called them back and go, ‘Uh, hold on a second — does this mean we gotta go over [to the U.K.] and do all of that in church with [the royal family] and figure all that out? ‘Cause I don’t wanna do that,’ " he said. " ‘Maybe we can do a little private ceremony here [in the U.S.] and let that be that, and if you have to do it there, then that’s okay.’ "
Tyler Perry in 2022.Santiago Felipe/Getty
On the podcast, Perry also spoke about extending a hand to Meghan during her life in the public eye amid her relationship with Prince Harry.
“I got the tremendous sense of how overwhelming it all was for her,” Perry said. “I got the sense that — listen, I know what it’s like to have a father who is not great, so seeing some of the things he was doing, I felt that she was very much isolated and alone. And I couldn’t imagine leaving America — and she had a really, really happy life. She was really happy, and I later found all of that out.”
He continued, “But to go into this world of where everything is larger than life — even to this day, it’s still larger than life for them where everywhere she goes or whatever she does or she puts on something, it sells out. There are paparazzi in the corners. I wanted to be a safe place — not only for her, but you know, there are many people who don’t have a name or are not a part of a royal family who just need somebody to be there for them.”
Perry said that despite rumors that Oprah Winfrey introduced them, he actually sent Meghan a note without Oprah’s knowledge because they once shared a publicist.
“[The note] just said, ‘If you ever need anything, you know, I’m here,’ and she called months later and just talked to me like I was that therapist you talk to, and we just had a great conversation,” he said. “It’s very important for people in this business to have a safe place to land, to have a place where they can trust and talk freely and get advice that’s not gonna be biased or from somebody who wants something from them.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Sept. 2023.Chris Jackson/Getty
Chris Jackson/Getty
Despitenot yet meeting, Meghan and Prince Harrystayed at Perry’s home in Los Angeleswhen they first moved to California in 2020, with theMadeadirector saying they “hid” and it was “so great.”
“Every day that they were there, I looked to see if anything’s happening online. Nothing. They don’t even know,” he explained. “So weeks and weeks they were there. They were so happy. It was such a beautiful moment.”
After using the actor and director’s estate for their fresh start in the United States, Meghan and Prince Harrypurchased a propertyin Montecito. Perry even welcomed them to their new abode with a grand piano as a housewarming gift, telling them, “Write the soundtrack for your life,” according to Meghan’s 2022 interview withThe Cut.
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Last year, Perry wished Meghan a happy birthday with a heartfelt post onInstagram.
“I’ve had a front row seat in your life for the past few years. I’ve watched you endure things that would have broken a lot of people,” Perry wrote. “I’m so incredibly proud to see how happy you, your husband, and your kids are now. It fills me with joy to say Happy Birthday Princess Meghan.”
source: people.com
