Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been living in an ultra-luxury Beverly Hills hideout that belongs to Hollywood tycoon Tyler Perry, DailyMailTV can exclusively reveal.
The couple have never been seen in public with Perry – best known for his cross-dressing portrayal of feisty Madea in his series of hit films – but are believed to have met him through their mutual close friend Oprah Winfrey.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their one-year-old son Archie have called the $18 million mansion home since moving to LA at the end of March, sources said.
They had been staying at a waterfront home in Vancouver Island since announcing they were stepping down from their royal duties in January, but made a beeline for California after Canada announced it would be restricting its borders due to COVID-19.
The couple have been spotted only a handful of times since their move to LA, first volunteering for a local charity dropping off food to locals who are at a high risk of catching coronavirus, as well as taking their beloved dogs out for a walk.
Fifty-year-old Perry’s eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom Tuscan-style villa sits on 22 acres on the top of a hill in the ultra-exclusive Beverly Ridge Estates guard-gated community, offering sweeping views of the city from the backyard.
It is not known whether Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, are renting Tyler’s property or staying there as guests, but there is no record of the mansion having been sold.
Both the Sussexes and Perry, who is worth $600 million, consider the legendary talk show host and businesswoman their Hollywood mentor.
Oprah is even godson to Perry’s five-year-old son Aman, and was seen at the house Meghan and Harry are now staying at for the little boys’ christening party back in 2015.
The Duke and Duchess are currently working on a documentary series with Oprah, while Perry has partnered with Oprah’s OWN television channel in the past.
A source told DailyMail.com: ‘Meghan and Harry have been extremely cautious to keep their base in LA under wraps.
‘Their team helped them choose the location for their transition to Los Angeles wisely.
‘Beverly Ridge has its own guarded gate and Tyler’s property has a gate of its own which is watched by their security team.
‘Beverly Ridge is an excellent place to keep out of view. The neighbors are mostly old money and mega rich business types rather than show business gossips.
‘It goes without saying that the location is stunning – just one of the most beautiful and desirable areas in LA.’
Beverly Ridge Estates is close to the Van Nuys private airport and some of the most desirable private schools on the Westside of Los Angeles.
Socialite Paris Hilton lived there for just under a year in 2004 after her former fiancé Paris Latsis bought her an 11,206 square foot mansion in December 2004.
Other local celebrities who have owned homes in the community include ex-spouses David and Carlton Gebbia, who starred on reality show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and had a burlesque room in their $22 million Gothic-style mansion.
It is also home to socialite Alexis Carson, the widow of popular talk show host Johnny Carson.
Top Hollywood real estate agent Rochelle Maize of the Nourmand & Associates agency told DailyMail.com: ‘Beverly Ridge Estates has just 14 homes but is very prestigious and chic.
‘There are not many rentals on offer there because of the limited number of properties.
‘Leases start at around $20,000 and can go up to $40,000 a month. It costs around $16 million to buy a property there.’
Perry expressed sympathy for Meghan earlier this year, referencing comments that she made to ITV news presenter Tom Bradby for a documentary shot in Africa,
Perry said: ‘Remember when Meghan Markle did that interview? She said ”Thanks for asking if I’m okay. Because no one ever asks me that.”
‘I felt her when she said that. People toss it out. ”How are you doing?” But not many people really mean it. Or pay attention to the answer.’
Perry custom built the 24,000 square foot Beverly Hills mansion from scratch after buying the 22 acres of land it is on for $4.3 million in 2004.
He was even said to have showed the property to rapper Kanye West as a potential buyer while it was still being developed.
Perry made his fortune as a movie and TV actor, writer, director and producer and is thought to be worth $600 million.
He was named the richest man in entertainment by Forbes magazine in 2011, and he earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October last year.
The New Orleans-born actor mainly lives and works in Atlanta, where he runs film production company Tyler Perry Studios.
Two weeks ago, he tipped staff at an Atlanta restaurant $21,000 while getting takeout.
Perry is also known for flipping properties and in 2018 sold a mansion in Mulholland Estates private community in Beverly Hills to Happy singer Pharrell Williams for $15.6 million.
Perry’s home is where Meghan and Harry celebrated Archie’s first birthday on Wednesday, having a ‘smash cake’ and Zoom chats with friends and family, a source told People magazine.
The couple shared a video of Meghan reading to Archie in a sweet video filmed last week and shared to the Save the Children Instagram account.
Oprah, 66, is believed to have gifted little Archie a huge collection of children’s books, including the Duck! Rabbit! story the Duchess read in the video.
Meanwhile, it’s been revealed a biography about the couple is set to be released worldwide online on August 11, with the hard copy on sale from August 20.
The book has the full title Finding Freedom: Harry And Meghan And The Making of A Modern Royal Family, and will be published by Dey Street Books.
The publisher reportedly had briefings with people close to the couple and publication is likely to be serialised ahead of a full release.
