Tyler Perry, the American actor and filmmaker, has opened up on why he gave his $18 million Beverly Hills home to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
He explained why he gave them the huge house to the couple to use as their personal residence after they quit the monarchy and moved to the US 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 then-one-year-old son, Archie, spent a few months living in Tyler’s Beverly Hills mansion – before they went on to purchase their own sprawling, $14.65 million estate in Montecito, California.
Now, the actor, comedian and producer, 53, has explained why he offered help to the couple, insisting that it was a ‘very difficult time for them’ and that he wanted to ‘support them’ in any way possible.
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.
‘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.’
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 2018.
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 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 even 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 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 Tyler 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, thanks to the fact that he owns many other properties.
His impressive real estate portfolio includes a $100 million, 40,000-square-foot, eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom mansion located in Atlanta, Georgia, 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.