- Tyler Perry revealed that he is Lilibet Diana's godfather on Netflix's series "Harry & Meghan."
- His one condition for accepting the role was not traveling to the UK and celebrating in the US.
Tyler Perry revealed on the final episode of Netflix's new docuseries "Harry & Meghan" that he is their daughter Lilibet Diana's godfather, but he had one condition before he fully accepted the role.
Initially, the filmmaker recalled feeling "honored" to play that part in their daughter's life when they asked, but then he had a thought.
"I called them back and go, 'Uh, hold on a second — does this mean we gotta go over there and do all of that in church with them and figure all that out? I don't wanna do that,'" he said in the final episode of the series, referring to traveling to the UK to see the royal family. "'Maybe we can do a little private ceremony here and let that be that, and if you have to do it there, then that's OK.'"
Perry initially connected with the couple before their royal wedding when he saw a story about how Meghan's father Thomas Markle was treating her.
"I couldn't even imagine this woman finding the man that she loved, the man of her dreams, and him being a prince, and then to walk into all of that madness and need the security of family and then have your father do some horrible things," he said. Perry said he "empathized" with the way Meghan's world was changing because of her new level of fame. He wrote that he was praying for her and would be there to support both of them if they needed anything.
On the episode, Meghan recalled that she didn't call him until years later, and while they were speaking on the phone she broke down in tears and told Perry all of her biggest fears.
Perry recalled realizing how similar Meghan's feelings were to what he once witnessed Princess Diana go through with the paparazzi after her divorce from Prince Charles.
"To tell Meghan that I felt her feelings were valid hurt," he said. "I didn't want to have to say that to her — I didn't want her to feel that. But I didn't want to lie to her. She was afraid of them destroying her, or going crazy, or them making her think she was crazy."
Perry recalled in the series that Meghan and Harry were "abused" by the royal institution: "And for the both of them to have the wherewithal to say, 'I don't give a damn if it's the palace. I'm out of here.' I applauded that."
During that time in Harry and Meghan's life, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Perry offered the family refuge in his Los Angeles home.
"He's like, 'You're not going to stay a week. You're going to stay as long as you need, and I'm going to get you there safely and I'm going to keep you there safely until you have somewhere to go,'" Meghan recalled Perry telling her when he let them stay at his residence.
"It was bliss because no one knew we were there," Prince Harry said of the first six weeks he lived there with Meghan and Archie.
All episodes of "Harry & Meghan" are available to stream now on Netflix.