A Prince Harry lookalike who parties with The Queen's doppelganger says the Prince's engagement to Meghan Markle has transformed his life.
Before Rhys Whittock decided to make a career out of his famous face, he was often being told by friends - and strangers - that he resembled Prince Charles's youngest son.
Speaking to MyLondon, Rhys recalled being at a party in 2006 and noticing people were staring at him with grins on their faces.
He also claims he'd hear whispers from passersby in the street while he was out minding his own business, and even heard someone exclaim it on a megaphone once at Thorpe Park.
The uncanny resemblance led Rhys's friends and family to suggest he should apply to lookalike agencies.
Rhys, now 38, started followed their advice and started reaching out, but was disappointed not to receive any responses.
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“I thought, okay, I look like him a little bit then, but perhaps not enough to be a professional lookalike actor. So that was the end of that,” he recalled.
At the time, however, the real Prince Harry was in Afghanistan, making his media appearances fairly scarce.
But when Harry got engaged to Meghan Markle in 2017, Rhys's life changed forever.
He laughs: “Honestly, I would not be a lookalike without her help getting engaged to Harry."
After watching the news of Harry's engagement on TV, an email popped into his inbox from one of the agencies he'd applied to, knowing that lookalikes of the Prince would be in high demand.
Rhys recalls the email reading: ‘Hi Rhys, don’t suppose you still look anything like Harry do you?'
And, according to the now-professional lookalike, that email changed his life.
While the now married Duke and Duchess of Sussex were appearing in photo shoots to announce their engagement, Rhys was hot property, having his own photos taken with a Meghan Markle lookalike.
Paired with a doppelganger for the Duchess who was originally from Spain, Rhys won an EasyJet competition for the most convincing lookalikes - and the pair struck up a firm friendship.
Nowadays, he spends most of his time working with Sarah Mhlanga, a Meghan lookalike from Manchester, who he met shortly before the Duke and Duchess got married in Windsor.
Rhys recalls the three weeks leading up to the Royal wedding as some of his busiest ever - taking on two Prince Harry jobs every single day.
However, it's not just Meghan lookalikes Rhys spends his time with - also being paired with William and Kate lookalikes, as well as Prince Charles and The Queen.
He said: “We even got flown out business class to Macau, China, just after the wedding, for a billionaire’s 75th birthday party.
“He was one of the richest men in Singapore, and he was a big fan of everything British, so he had Elton John and Adele tribute acts, and they constructed this huge Buckingham Palace replica set and it was all made of real steel and concrete pillars.”
Later that week, Rhys and the other lookalikes were hired by a PR stunt in Canary Wharf, 'recreating' what Harry's stag do might look like.
He described being dressed in Union Jack Speedos while stood next to 'William', who was wearing the same thing. They cruised up and down the water in a hot tub boat while playing beer pong.
While playing Harry, he has to change his native Cardiff accent to mimic the received pronunciation in which The Prince speaks.
Now, Rhys admits the lines between him and Harry can sometimes be blurred - turning his head when someone calls out to 'Harry' in the street.
Although Rhys hasn't met his doppelganger in the flesh (as it's thought the Royal Family like to keep their lookalikes at a distance) he hopes one day they might get the chance to chat in real life.
For now, Rhys is content with his social circle of other lookalikes in London, including David Beckham, Simon Cowell, Britney Spears and Will Smith.
Lucky for Rhys, he's only one year older than Harry - so he hopes they'll continue to resemble each other as they age.
