Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are Celebrating Their Daughter's Godfather Tyler Perry with Special Honor

Perry, who is a godfather to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's daughter Princess Lilibet, helped the couple when they first moved to the U.S. together

Tyler Perry will receive the Paley Center for Media's highest honor, and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are among the crew leading the celebrations.

The Paley Center announced on July 17 that Perry, 54, will be honored at the Paley Honors gala in Beverly Hills on Dec. 4. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are among the tribute chairs along with Whoopi Goldberg, Gayle King, Taraji P. Henson, George Lucas, Kerry Washington and more.

"Throughout my career, I have strived to bring people together and to give a voice to those often underrepresented in media," Perry said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "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."

Meghan, 42, and Prince Harry, 39, first connected with the filmmaker when Perry reached out to Meghan around her 2018 royal wedding. He let the Duchess of Sussex know he was praying for her "and that he understood what this meant, and that he could only imagine what it was like," Meghan told The Cut in a 2022 interview. Perry told her to call if she ever needed support or advice.

Related: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are Using Sussex as Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet's Last Names

Taking him up on the invitation in early 2020, Meghan filled Perry in on her family's stay in Vancouver, Canada amid an uncertain future as they announced their decision to step back from royal life. Before Perry had ever met the couple, he offered for them to stay in his Los Angeles estate with their son, Prince Archie, along with security detail while transitioning out of their senior roles within the royal family.

Perry said on an episode of Let's Talk Off-Camera with Kelly Ripa released in Nov. 2023, "Every day that they were there, I looked to see if anything's happening online. Nothing. They don't even know. So weeks and weeks they were there. They were so happy. It was such a beautiful moment."

As they put down roots at their "permanent home" in Montecito (Perry even welcomed the pair to their new abode with a grand piano as a housewarming gift, telling them, "Write the soundtrack for your life," according to The Cut), a source told PEOPLE that Harry and Meghan were appreciative of Perry's compassion. "They're really grateful to Tyler Perry for his kindness," the insider said in summer 2020. "They have endless gratitude to him for helping them during a complicated time.

"With COVID and as they were stepping back from their royal duties, he provided them a safe haven," they added.

Related: Tyler Perry Shares His Cute Nickname for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Daughter Princess Lilibet

After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet, in June 2021, they asked Perry to be her godfather, a role he first revealed on the Netflix series Harry & Meghan.

Perry recalled the couple getting "pretty serious" on a phone call: "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 honored. I'd absolutely be honored.' "

After getting off the call and thinking about the ask, the director realized his agreement came with a bit of a condition.

"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,' " Perry said in the docuseries. " '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.' "

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Princess Lilibet was christened in a small ceremony at Prince Harry and Meghan's Montecito home in 2023. An insider told PEOPLE exclusively there were between 20 and 30 guests at the gathering, including Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, Perry and an unnamed godmother. Following the ceremony, attendees were treated to an afternoon of food and dancing, with Archie enjoying a dance with his little sister.

Perry flew in for the christening ceremony from his home in Atlanta with a 10-person gospel choir that sang "Oh Happy Day" and "This Little Light of Mine," a song that was played at Meghan and Harry's wedding.

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