Meghan Markle Looks Glamorous in Black Strapless Gown in Beverly Hills
Last night in Beverly Hills, Meghan Markle celebrated her friend, filmmaker Tyler Perry, at the Paley Center Honors. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were on the host committee for the evening, alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Taraji P. Henson, Kerry Washington, Gayle King, Ted Sarandos, George Lucas, and others.
“Throughout my career, I have strived to bring people together and to give a voice to those often underrepresented in media,” Perry said when the award was announced this past summer. “Media has served as a vital platform for this mission, and I’m honored to receive this award from The Paley Center for Media, an organization that has dedicated itself to spotlighting the power and importance of media.”
For the evening, Meghan wore a black, strapless Oscar de la Renta gown. Prince Harry wasn't in attendance, as he spoke at a conference in New York City earlier in the day, and attended an art opening in the evening.
Meghan first connected with Perry back in 2018, when he reached out ahead of her royal wedding to Prince Harry. "I'd never met him before," she recalls in her Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, but he sent her a letter when he learned of her public estrangement from her father, Thomas Markle. "He said he was praying for me, and if I ever need anything, he would be there," the Duchess said. Later, when she was struggling in her royal role, she decided to reach out. "I was just crying and crying. Sometimes it's easier to open up to someone who knows nothing at all, and that was that moment with me and Tyler," she said.
Perry was also interviewed for the series, and said he distinctly remembers that phone call. "I could hear the fear, it was palpable...She was afraid of them destroying her." He added, "I saw my mother being abused for years, I know the symptoms... This woman was abused, and so was [Harry]."
In 2020, when the Sussexes made the decision to step back from royal duties, they went to live in Perry's Beverly Hills mansion. In the years since, they've remained close, and when Princess Lilibet was born, Harry and Meghan named Perry their daughter's godfather. "They were pretty serious on the phone and 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," Perry said in the Netflix docuseries. "And I thought, 'I'd be honored. I'd be absolutely honored.'"
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