Rhys Whittock, 38, better known as the Prince Harry lookalike, went straight into telling SWL about the brilliantly surreal world of celebrity lookalikes.
“I’ve done a lot of work with the photographer Alison Jackson in Kensington who makes a lot of controversial work using lookalikes, such as taking a photograph of a Donald Trump impersonator surrounded by Ku Klux Klan figures.
“A Meghan Markle lookalike and I worked with her during the time that baby Archie was born in 2019.
“We did a load of shoots around London using fake baby bumps, doll babies with all different hair colours.”
Welshman turned Londoner Whittock has been mistaken for Prince Harry his entire adult life, often in funny circumstances.
“People have been telling me that I have looked like him since I was eighteen-years-old and I think I have started to look more like him since I started this profession.
“I went on a tour of Kensington palace two months ago, to visit the Princess Diana wedding dress exhibition and a security guard mistook me for Prince Harry momentarily.
“Apparently, in the palaces they have photographs of us lookalikes so that they don’t let us into private areas by mistake.”
The catalyst for Whittock’s job as a Prince Harry lookalike was Harry and Meghan’s engagement announcement in November 2017.
“I was watching the news and I knew instantly that they were the new hottest couple in the world, they were the new Posh and Becks.
“And I thought my goodness, how much fun would I be having now working as a lookalike?
“I would love to be doing that.
“So I have Meghan to thank really for what I do.”
Whittock has been working as a Prince Harry lookalike for four years now and still finds it as rewarding as he did at the beginning.
“Each job is completely different which is why it is such a fun job to do.”
The Welshman does hen nights, parties, nights with celebrities and all sorts of stunts with the press.
But the largest event he attended was a big bash in 2018 for Chinese business people.
The party took place at Alexandra Palace and he worked alongside other royal family lookalikes.
“There were around 2,000 Chinese business guests and they treated us as if we were the real royal family.
“The queue to meet the Queen was 20m long and it didn’t shorten for an hour and a half.
“There was some pushing and shoving and in the end they had to get security to get the Queen out safely.”
That isn’t even close to the strangest stunt that Whittock has been involved in.
“The weirdest thing I had to do was imagine what Prince Harry’s stag-do would be like for a PR stunt organised by a London based company.
“We went down to this boat on Regent’s Canal with a hot tub on it.
“So Prince William and I have got Union Jack speedo trunks on, whilst Prince Charles is wearing a tuxedo.
“The Queen is on the dock waving us off whilst we are partying in the hot tub by playing silly games and drinking champagne.”
It isn’t all fun and games though.
In the world of lookalikes, appearing as close to the real person is the hardest and most important part of the job.
“I’m pretty fortunate to be of a similar age, height and build to him.
“The concern is that he might bald quicker than me as I’ve got pretty thick hair.
“Hopefully Meghan will get him a hair transplant soon.’
But Whittock is prepared for any changes in Prince Harry’s appearance.
“I’ve never had a beard in my life but I do at the moment, and if Harry was to shave it off I would have to copy him.
“For the wedding in 2018, I had to go to Windsor Castle to do some press interviews and I had to take my razor with me because I didn’t know if he would shave it off.
“I’m glad Harry has nothing visible like piercings or tattoos because other lookalikes have gone to extremes like getting those things.”
The Megxit fallout and the royals’ move to California hasn’t affected demand for Whittock’s impersonation of Harry.
“There is no such thing as bad publicity, as long as he is on the front covers I am busy with work.
“Whenever there are babies, weddings and interviews, I’m busy.
“It’s great being a royal lookalike because they’re always in the spotlight and that’s good for business.”
Despite this, Whittock has yet to meet Harry or any of the Windsors as Royal Family protocol prohibits them from being seen with lookalikes.
“I’m sure they have a WhatsApp group where they share what we get up to between themselves.
“Apparently Prince Charles thinks the impersonation of him is really funny actually.’
Has he ever wondered what he would say to Prince Harry if he met him in person?
“I think the first thing I would say to Harry would be I hope you don’t mind the stunts that we get up to.’
Image Credits: Rhys Whittock
