Tyler Perry has revealed why he offered up his home to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after they left the monarchy and moved to the U.S. two years ago. Back in 2020, after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they were saying goodbye to their royal duties and relocating to California, the couple, along with their son, Archie, spent a few months living in Tyler’s Beverly Hills mansion before they went on to purchase their own sprawling, $14 million estate in Montecito, California.
Now, the actor, comedian and producer, 53, has explained why he wanted to help the couple, admitting that it was a ‘very difficult time for them.’ The filmmaker added that he was inspired by Harry and Meghan’s love, telling the Today show, ‘What I know about the two of them – and I wish the world knew – how much these two people love each other. They found each other, out of all these odds against them finding each other, they found each other.’
Tyler continued: ‘The love they have is really, really moving and I wanted to do anything I could to support them.’ He added of Meghan and Harry’s relationship: ‘If I don’t have that, what she and Harry have, I don’t want it. That’s really amazing.’ Pictured: Harry, Meghan and Archie in South Africa on September 25, 2019.
During a recent interview with The Cut, Meghan, 41, spoke out about her bond with Tyler, explaining that he got in touch with her after she first wed Harry, 38, in 2019. She explained that he told her that he was praying for her, and that he ‘understood’ the intense pressure she was under.
According to Meghan, Tyler also told her that if she ever needed advice, she could reach out to him — so she did. She soon began to open up to him about her struggles and the two grew close, despite them never actually meeting in person. ‘Sometimes, you can tell your life story to a stranger on a plane as opposed to some of the people that are closest to you,’ she told The Cut.
According to the outlet, Tyler offering his home (pictured) to the pair ‘became, in many ways, the reason that Meghan and Harry started their new life in Southern California.’ The eight-bedroom Tuscan-style villa, which he purchased in 2004 for $4.3 million, sits on 22 acres of land and comes with 24,000-square-feet of living space.
And while it was certainly generous of Tyler – who has a reported net worth of $1 billion – to provide the royals with a place to stay, he was definitely not left with nowhere to go, as he owns many other properties. Pictured: A balcony at Perry’s LA mansion.
Pictured: The kitchen at Perry’s LA mansion where Harry and Meghan stayed when they moved to California.
His impressive real estate portfolio includes a $100 million, 40,000-square-foot, eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom mansion located in Atlanta, Georgia, (pictured) and a log cabin in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He also owns a 25-acre private island and an adjacent seven-acre island in the Bahamas, where he had a villa and a series of bungalows built from scratch.
After Meghan and Harry purchased their own house, Tyler sent them a generous housewarming gift – a grand piano – with a note that read, ‘Write the soundtrack for your life.’ And when Meghan’s birthday rolled around last month, the Madea star shared a sweet tribute to her on Instagram. ‘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,’ he wrote, before gushing: ‘I’m so incredibly proud to see how happy you, your husband, and your kids are now.’
The royal couple, who now share, a daughter Lilibet, one, in addition to Archie, now three, later spoke out about their decision to part ways with the monarchy on Oprah Winfrey’s show. They made a series of bombshell accusations, including that an unnamed royal raised ‘concerns and conversations’ about how dark Archie’s skin would be before he was born, and that Kate Middleton once made Meghan cry over a flower girl dress before her wedding to Harry.
During the interview, Meghan also said she felt like she was ‘silenced’ by the royals, and that she was ‘given a very clear directive from the moment the world knew she and Harry were dating to always say, “No comment.”‘ ‘I’ve always been outspoken, especially about women’s rights, and that’s the sad irony of the last four years — I’ve advocated for so long for women to use their voice,’ she continued.
She also said it felt like she wasn’t being ‘protected’ by them, while ‘other members of the family’ were. ‘It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected, but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family,’ she stated. ‘They weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.’
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