Britain's royal wedding boosts demand for lookalikes (Feature)

By Anna Tomforde Feb 2, 2011, 2:06 GMT

London - For Susan Scott, business is booming - with just three months to go to Britain's royal wedding, her Lookalikes model agency is struggling to meet the demand for royal 'doubles' of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

'For us the royal engagement has taken the place of Christmas this year,' says Scott about the brisk demand for royal pretenders from media organizations, advertisers and events managers.

'Since their engagement in November, our phones have not stopped ringing,' said the self-made business woman, who set up Britain's first lookalike agency in 1979.

Times had not always been so good. In recent years, as bankers and business firms cut back on spicing up an office party with a celebrity lookalike guest.

Veteran James Bond actor Sean Connery, and Queen Elizabeth II, are traditionally among favourites for hire, among the 8,000 celebrity lookalikes the agency has on its books.

But for the last few months, would-be princes and copy-Kates have easily topped the list of applicants wishing to be considered for a pseudo-royal appointment.

'At the last count we had 28 Kates but far, far fewer Williams,' reported Scott.

'There are lots of pretty girls in the UK, and Kate's quite a traditional look, quite English. William is a bit trickier,' explains Helena Chard, who works with Scott.

It was challenging to capture the 'blend of royal confidence and humility' that William projected, she said.

His combination of chubby cheeks, toothy grin and thinning hair made William, 28, difficult to double, press reports have suggested.

That's where Andy Walker comes in, a 25-year-old security worker who has given up his job to become a full-time William double.

On a number of engagements, his pretend-bride has been Kate Bevan, who is Britain's most prominent copy-Kate by far.

At the age of 21 - eight years younger than her role model - Bevan has swapped her career as a pharmaceutical assistant for her role as a fairytale princess.

'The job calls for much more than looks,' Bevan told a British magazine. However, she conceded that Middleton's 'middle-class, girl-next-door image' was not too hard to emulate.

'She comes across as quite shy, and that's easy to imitate,' said Bevan, who is reported to have had lucrative offers for photo shoots and corporate events from around the world.

'It's too much of an opportunity to pass it up, ' she says.

Bevan and Walker are among dozens of young Britons hoping to make a living from impersonating the royal couple.

They hope that their assignments will continue after the royal wedding. But, if not, it will have been good fun.

'After the wedding it will be time to digress and settle into a career path whilst being a lookalike on the side,' said Walker on his website.

'I guess it is fair to say every lookalike has their time and for myself and the Kate lookalikes, it is clearly now!'

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