Kate lookalike grieving the Queen and missing her impersonator who is retiring
A Princess of Wales lookalike has revealed how she is not only grieving the death of the Queen, but will also miss the 'Queen' impersonator she has worked alongside, who is now retiring.
Heidi Agan, 42, from Northamptonshire was initially spotted as a Kate double when she was working as a waiter during the build-up to the royal wedding between her and the then Prince William in 2011.
In the decade since becoming an official lookalike, Agan has travelled the globe, alongside her own ‘royal family’, which includes a Prince of Wales lookalike, and, of course, the Queen.
Following the Queen's death last week, Agan is not only mourning the loss of the monarch, but also feeling somewhat sad that her own lookalike Queen, Mary Reynolds, 89, has stepped down from her role out of respect to Her Majesty.
“When they announced the Queen had died, I had this enormous wave of emotion," Agan explains, who lives with her husband, Russell Agan, 43, son, Blake, 20, and daughter Abigail, 13.
“She has been such a constant in all our lives. I don’t cry often but I felt so moved. She was incredible.
“Within our own lookalike family, in a way we are also losing our own 'Queen', Mary, who I have worked with for the last 10 years.
“While we will still be able to see her, of course, it will be really strange not to have her working with us anymore.”
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While Agan's lookalike journey only began a decade ago, she has always been a fan of the Royal Family.
“Growing up as a child, I always wanted to know what tiara the Queen would wear or what outfit, and wondered what it would be like to live in a palace,” she explains.
“But then you get older and you have this completely different appreciation for the Queen, of the role she has and what she means to the country.
“Britain has not just lost the Queen, the world has lost its most famous woman.”
It wasn't until 2011, in the run up to the royal wedding, that Agan started getting compared to the future Princess of Wales.
“I was working in a Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Kettering at the time, and people started asking to be ‘served by the Princess’ or take a picture with me and I started to think there might be something in it,” she says.
Signing up with her first lookalike agency in 2012, Agan has since travelled to Hong Kong, Australia and America alongside her doppelganger Royal Family.
“The lookalike royal family has become so close, we're like a real family now,” she says,
“I have worked with Simon Watkinson, a William lookalike, since I started and I have travelled more with him than I have my real husband!”
She adds: “King Charles and Camilla are always amazing to see and we even have the royal children and the corgis too."
Working as Kate’s double has given Agan a deeper understanding of the role of the Royal Family.
"The amount of effort you put into knowing everything you possibly can about people, events and what each royal is doing – so you can keep up the illusion – has given me this huge appreciation for what they do, and what the Queen did her whole life.”
The Queen's death, however, could spark some change in Agan's lookalike career.
“It has been surprising to see how quickly events have unfolded and the announcement of Kate and Wills as the Prince and Princess of Wales," she explains.
“It will be interesting to see how the dynamic changes – I think King Charles, the Queen Consort and the Prince and Princess of Wales will become the next key four lookalikes for events.”
Of course, the lookalike royal family will also have to adapt to losing their own 'Queen'.
“It will be so strange not to work with Mary anymore,” says Agan.
“A few years ago, I worked with a Diana lookalike and it was the most bizarre thing.
It didn’t feel right given Diana had died and Kate had obviously never met her.
“As sad as it is to see our lookalike Queen leave us, I think it is for the best.”
She believes the death of the Queen could bring another change too.
“It was really special to see Harry and Meghan join together with Kate and William at Windsor Castle last weekend so it will be interesting to see if that continues,” she adds.
“It would be amazing if we could do lookalike events as a four.”
Despite forthcoming changes, Agan hopes the royal lookalikes can continue to bring joy to fans in the future.
“The reason we do what we do has always been to bring a bit of humour to events, but we always try to be respectful,” she explains.
“It’s hard to imagine right now what things will look like in the future, so we will have to wait and see.
“It’s strange because it feels like you’ve lost a member of your own family – the Queen has been there our whole lives.”
You can follow Heidi on Facebook and Twitter at @heidiagan
Additional reporting PA Real Life.
