Wendell Pierce has said he warned his former Suits co-star the Duchess of Sussex her world would be “forever changed” by marrying Prince Harry during their last face-to-face meeting.
Pierce, 55, played Robert Zane, the successful lawyer and protective father of Meghan’s character Rachel, in the long-running US legal drama.
During an appearance on Desert Island Discs – to be aired on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow – he recalled how he had saved Meghan, 38, from being photographed wearing a costume ring, after filming scenes in which her character had become engaged.
He told host Lauren Laverne: “It was great. She’s a really good actress and was always sweet, always kind.
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“We were shooting one day, before the engagement. In the show she was engaged and she had a ring on.
“We were about to get out of the car and I said: ‘Don’t get out. Give us the ring. There’s a paparazzi down the street.
“If a photograph got out with you with a ring on it, it would explode all over the world.’
“Then when we had the final scenes I said: ‘Look, your world is going to be forever changed and no matter where you are, you can always know that you have a friend in me.
“That was the last time I got to speak to her – and it was great.”
Pierce, who is known for roles in The Wire and Jack Ryan, was born in Pontchartrain Park, a black middle-class neighbourhood in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Pierce’s family home was severely flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
He said the devastation was like “losing a member of a family”.
