Harry, Meghan never met Tyler Perry before staying at house
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took their “freedom flight” to California to stay at Tyler Perry’s estate in 2020 — but now admit they had never even met the Hollywood mogul before shacking up.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex detail their breaking point with the royal family and subsequent escape from the UK with Perry’s help in the sixth episode of Netflix’s “Harry & Meghan” docuseries, which was released Thursday.
“This is the current situation,” Harry, 38, can be seen recording into his phone.
“Thanks to another amazing friend who we’ve never met, but who believes in us and wants to help.”
Perry, 53, explains in an interview that shortly before the couple’s 2018 royal wedding, he penned Markle, 41, a note “praying for her just to be able to move through it and hold on” after her father Thomas Markle’s paparazzi scandal.
“I had never met him before,” Markle recalls, noting that the “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” star’s letter stated he’d always be there if she needed anything.
The “Suits” alum decided to call Perry from Canada, which was the first time they had ever spoken to each other.
“I was just a wreck,” she shares. “I was just crying and crying. Sometimes it’s easier to just open up to someone who knows nothing at all, and that was that moment with me and Tyler.”
The “Madea” franchise star put the couple up in his $18 million estate with full security so that they’d feel safe.
“It was bliss because no one knew we were there,” Harry remembers, with Markle adding that they had a “slice of normal life.”
Six weeks into staying at Perry’s home, the couple built a fence around the property to keep paparazzi out after the location had been leaked.
The renegade royals eventually purchased a $14 million estate in Montecito, Calif., that is fully gated and secure.
“Meghan and Harry finally feel like they are on their own, and it feels great,” a source told Page Six at the time. “They bought this house without help from his family; they aren’t using it on loan from a friend as they had before. It’s truly theirs, and they can’t wait to make it a home.”