In 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their “freedom flight” to California, where they stayed at Tyler Perry’s mansion, despite the fact that they had never seen the Hollywood billionaire prior to their engagement.
In Thursday’s sixth episode of Netflix’s “Harry & Meghan” documentary series, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex discuss their breaking point with the royal family and their subsequent departure from the UK with Perry’s assistance.
Harry, 38, can be seen recording into his phone, “This is the current situation.”
“Many thanks to yet another extraordinary person we’ve never met, but who believes in us and wants to assist.”
Perry, 53, admits in an interview that just before the couple’s 2018 royal wedding, he wrote Markle, 41, a letter “praying for her to be able to go through it and hold on” following her father Thomas Markle’s paparazzi scandal.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reveal that they had never met Tyler Perry before to moving into his home.
“I had never met him before,” Markle recounts, adding that the “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” star’s letter assured her that he would always be there for her if she needed anything.
The former “Suits” star decided to phone Perry from Canada; it was the first time they had ever spoken.
“I was a complete mess,” she reveals. “I simply sobbed and sobbed. Sometimes it’s simpler to open up to someone who knows nothing about you, as was the case with me and Tyler at that time.
To make the pair feel protected, the “Madea” franchise star put them up in his $18 million mansion with full security.
“It was fantastic because no one knew we were there,” Harry recalls, adding that Markle and he experienced a “taste of normal life.”
Six weeks into their stay in Perry’s residence, the pair constructed a fence around the property to keep the paparazzi out, after the location of their residence had been leaked.
The rebellious royals finally purchased a $14 million gated and protected mansion in Montecito, California.
A source told Page Six at the time, “Meghan and Harry finally feel independent, and it feels amazing.” They purchased this home without assistance from his family; they are no longer using it as a loan from a friend. It is all theirs, and they cannot wait to make it their home.”
»Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had never met Tyler Perry prior to their flight to his residence«