Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter has a very famous godfather, it has been revealed.
In the final episode of the couple’s Netflix docu-series, Tyler Perry told viewers that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex asked him to be Lilibet’s godfather last year.
Recalling the moment they asked him over the phone, the filmmaker revealed: “I go, ‘Okay, what’s going on?’ They said, ‘Well, we’d like for you to be Lili’s godfather.'”
“I go, ‘Whoa.’ I had to take a minute to take that in. And I thought, ‘I’d be honoured. I’d absolutely be honoured.'”
However, the 53-year-old admitted he was initially worried he’d have to take part in a big church service over in the UK.
“I called them back and go, ‘Uh, hold on a second — does this mean we gotta go over [to the U.K.] and do all of that in church with [the royal family] and figure all that out? ‘Cause I don’t wanna do that,'” he confessed.
“‘Maybe we can do a little private ceremony here [in the U.S.] and let that be that, and if you have to do it there, then that’s okay.'”
Tyler first became acquainted with the couple when he sent Meghan a letter before their wedding, in which he said he was “praying” for her amid the controversy surrounding her father Thomas Markle.
In the episode, Tyler said: “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.”
“When my life changed and success started to come, family members became different people, and I know how hurtful and horrible it can be.”
Years later, shortly after Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals, Meghan called Tyler in floods of tears.
The former actress broke down as she discussed how she was being treated by the media and members of the Royal family.
Tyler said in the series: “To tell Meghan that I felt her feelings were valid, [that] hurt. 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.”
The actor also said he recognised symptoms of “abuse”, after witnessing his own mother being abused.
“This woman was abused. And so was he,” he continued, referring to Meghan and Harry.
“To use the institution to try and do all the things that a batterer would do — like, ‘Here’s what we’re gonna do: We’re gonna cut off the money, we’re gonna not leave you security, we’re gonna do all those things to make you comply and come back.’ ”
“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,” he added.
At the time, Harry and Meghan were staying at a rental property in Canada in March 2020 – when the Covid-19 pandemic was about to hit.
The couple’s location had been made public, and they quickly decided that they needed to get out of there – but they had nowhere to go.
Thankfully, Tyler stepped in and offered them refuge at one of his properties in Los Angeles, California.
Harry and Meghan were clearly grateful for his incredible act of kindness, as they asked Tyler to be Lili’s godfather the following year, shortly after she was born.
