16 November 2023 , 09:28
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Filmmaker Tyler Perry has gushed over his goddaughter Princess Lilibet and shared the sweet nickname he calls her.
The 54-year-old became a close friend of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry when they stepped back from the Royal Family three years ago. He invited the couple to stay at his $18million (£14.5million) Beverly Hills mansion during their transition away from Royal life and the pals have been close ever since.
Now, Tyler has heaped a lot of praise on Lilibet and revealed he calls her "Little Lili". During an appearance on the Let's Talk Off-Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast, he added: "She's so adorable. Oh, she's so beautiful. She's just so beautiful."
READ MORE: Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet share adorable tribute to King Charles on his birthday
Tyler Perry is Princess Lilibet's godfather (Getty Images)
He revealed he calls her 'Little Lili' (PA)Tyler was shocked when he was asked to be Lilibet's godfather. Speaking on Meghan and Harry's Netflix docuseries, he recalled being phoned by the couple who "were pretty serious" about him taking on the special role.
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"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'."
After the phone call, Tyler realised he might be needed to fly over to the UK and join in a ceremony with the Royal Family. He called Meghan and Harry back and said: "I don't wanna do that. Maybe we can do a little private ceremony here and let that be that, and if you have to do it there, then that's okay."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle share two children together (alexilubomirski/Instagram)
Tyler has been a very good friend to Meghan (Getty Images)During his chat with Kelly, Tyler also spoke about his relationship with Meghan. He said he had a "tremendous sense of how overwhelming it all was for her" when she stepped into life with the Royals.
He explained: "I got the sense that — listen, I know what it's like to have a father who is not great, so seeing some of the things he was doing, I felt that she was very much isolated and alone. And I couldn't imagine leaving America — and she had a really, really happy life. She was really happy, and I later found all of that out."
Tyler added: "To go into this world of where everything is larger than life — even to this day, it's still larger than life for them where everywhere she goes or whatever she does or she puts on something, it sells out. There are paparazzi in the corners. I wanted to be a safe place — not only for her, but you know, there are many people who don't have a name or are not a part of a royal family who just need somebody to be there for them."