Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s close friend opens up on ‘difficult time’ for couple
Tyler Perry offered his home in California to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after the couple stepped back from their royal duties.
A friend of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry has opened up on the “difficult time” the couple had and the role he played when they moved to the US. Tyler Perry offered his home in California to the Sussexes after they relinquished their royal roles in 2020. In an interview with NBC, the director and producer said of his help: “It was a very difficult time for them and what I know about the two of them, that I wish the world knew, is how much they love.” Mr Perry, 53, continued: “These two people love each other. They found each other. Out of all these odds against them finding each other, they found each other.
“The love they have is really, really moving and I just wanted to do anything I could to support them.” He added that he is searching for a relationship similar to that shared by the Sussexes, saying: “If I don’t have that, what she and Harry have, I don’t want it – that’s really amazing.” Harry and Meghan lived in Mr Perry’s house in California not long after they arrived in the US from Canada.
The Duchess of Sussex later described the gesture as allowing the couple breathing room to work out what they would do next. Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in the couple’s controversial interview with the US talkshow host: “We didn’t have a plan and we needed a house and he offered security as well so it gave us breathing room to try to figure out what we were going to do.” Mr Perry and the Sussexes became friends after he contacted Meghan in May 2018 not long after she married Harry.
Meghan has said Mr Perry got in touch to tell her he was praying for her and he could appreciate the significance of the couple’s marriage. The Duchess contacted the filmmaker after she and Harry had moved to Canada at which time Meghan shared details of the couple’s situation. She said: “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.” Mr Perry praised the Duchess in a tribute issued on social media to mark her 41st birthday in August.
He took to Instagram to post the tribute, saying Meghan has endured things which would have “broken” many others. Along with an image of Meghan crouching down to accept flowers from a young girl, Mr Perry commented: “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. I’m so incredibly proud to see how happy you, your husband, and your kids are now.” He also wrote: “It fills me with joy to say Happy Birthday Princess Meghan.”
Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020, and have since become alienated from the royal family. They accused the Royal Family of racism, claiming an unnamed royal made a racist remark about their son Archie before he was born, and the institution failed to help a suicidal Meghan. The Princess of Wales was also publicly singled out by Meghan for allegedly making her cry in the run-up to her wedding. However, the Sussexes appeared with the Prince and Princess of Wales for a walkabout outside Windsor Castle after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Their appearance together raised the prospect of a reconciliation between the siblings. The Duchess of Sussex also paused new episodes of her Spotify podcast during the official mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II. Harry also paid a highly personal tribute to the late Queen, saying how he cherished the time he had spent with his grandmother and promising to honour his father King Charles III as the new monarch.
