LONDON - In the days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year, 66-year-old Charles Haslett, like many other Britons, was overcome with sadness.
But he didn't have much time to dwell on those feelings.
"I felt a weight of responsibility," Haslett said.
"The moment has come".
Charles Haslett.
Photo Hayley Benoit for The New York Times
Haslett, a longtime impersonator of the queen's eldest son, Charles, spent more than 5,000 pounds (about $6,200) "to make himself more of a king than he was," he said.
For this, he bought a
custom-made gray hair toupee, as well as two double-breasted suits and a gold signet ring in the same style as the one worn by the new monarch, King Carlos III
.
Haslett also commissioned
modeling clay
so that his ears would stick out like the king's.
As the 74-year-old King settles into his new role, so do those who closely resemble Her Majesty and impersonate him at fundraisers, raffles, coronation celebrations and company parties. .
After years of fighting for
contracts,
Carlos impersonators say they love their new role.
Guy Ingle, 62, another longtime Charles impersonator, said he used to come second to Queen Elizabeth impersonators, taking a backseat to acts.
Ian Lieber, Photo Hayley Benoit for The New York Times
"None of these queens had any talent," she said.
"It was very frustrating."
To top it off, he added, the impersonators of Charles's son, Prince William, and his wife, Catherine, always had a lot more work to do than Charles' doubles.
These days, however, Ingle said he's been overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to hire him.
"I was surprised that so much work came my way so soon after Her Majesty's passing," he said, entering the Queen's Head, a pub in Ampthill, his hometown, about 50 miles northwest of London.
"The dilemma is which ones you do."
Can you identify the real King Charles III?Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson Collection, via Getty Images.
Ingle has 12 bookings this spring and said his fees have doubled since Carlos ascended the throne in September.
(He would not discuss how much he earns, but said he once earned about £800 (about $980) for an appearance at a party celebrating the opening of a new terminal at Heathrow airport.)
Another lookalike for Charles, Ian Lieber, a retired interior designer, has recently hired an agent.
After decades of being approached by strangers who mistook him for Carlos, Lieber, 81, thought it was best to turn professional.
"It's like stepping into a fantasy world," he said, noting that he already has a contract to participate in a company luncheon and other potential opportunities, such as his appearance at a bar mitzvah.
Guy Ingle, right, a King Charles impersonator, poses with lookalikes of Princes William and Harry before the real Harry's wedding in 2018. Photo Daniel Leal/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images
In previous years, despite numerous requests for impersonators from other royals, demand for Charles's lookalikes was low, according to impersonator agent Susan Scott.
"There was a long wait," he explains.
Haslett attributed the low demand to Charles not being "as clean" as his mother, referring to his turbulent marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, and his infidelity.
Most recently, a report revealed that one of his charities had accepted a £1 million ($1.2 million) donation from
Osama bin Laden's family.
Charles, who was first in line to the throne for longer than anyone in the history of the British monarchy, has not achieved the same popularity as the beloved queen.
Just over half of the British public have a favorable opinion of Charles, who is less popular than his sister Princess Anne and his son and daughter-in-law William and Catherine, according to a January Ipsos survey of 1,000 British adults. .
(The king's disgraced younger brother, Prince Andrew, his youngest son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were the least popular members of the royal family according to the survey, conducted after the memoirs were published. Harry's revealing, "Spare").
Scott, the lookalikes agent, said that the negative publicity around Harry might actually benefit Carlos, and therefore Carlos's lookalikes.
"When you look at the rest, he might be the best bet."
Charles's coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6, the start of a long holiday weekend in Britain.
Just like during the queen's coronation 70 years ago, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to throng the streets of London.
The 1953 event was "a spectacle daunting in its magnitude and brilliance," according to a front page article in
The New York Times.
Before
the coronation, the transport authorities launched a special bus service that offered royal supporters a tour of the city's decorations for one shilling and sixpence, or 21 europence at the time.
As the Carlos and Carlos impersonators prepare for the coronation, the queen impersonators realize that the demand for them may be over, in contrast to the seemingly eternal demand for Elvis Presley impersonators, who continue to perform long after they are
done
. the death of the singer
A queen impersonator, Jeanette Vane, was still willing to work, Scott, her agent, said.
"She misses him terribly," Scott said.
Another queen impersonator, Mary Reynolds, is retiring out of respect for the queen, after 50 years of impersonating her (her last event was in Zurich a few weeks before the queen's death).
Reynolds, 89, said he turned down a contract at
Fortnum & Mason
, London's famed tea emporium, a few months after the queen's death.
Instead, the store hired Ingle to play Carlos.
Reynolds says that he has instead focused on helping the actual transition, giving wardrobe advice to a woman posing as Camilla, Carlos's wife.
"Even with the stunts, it's like a family," says Reynolds.
Simon Watkinson, a William impersonator, said that as soon as he heard the news of the queen's death, he called Reynolds to offer his condolences.
"We're very close, the family of royal impersonators, because we do a lot of work together," he said.
Watkinson, an engineer from Australia, said he became a professional impersonator after he was constantly stopped by people on the streets of London thinking he was William.
One of the potentially uncomfortable parts of being an impersonator is meeting the real thing.
In the case of Haslett, this happened 24 years ago, in an act held in a London theater on the occasion of Carlos' 50th birthday.
Haslett was hired to double for Charles in the audience as he made a surprise appearance on stage.
Backstage after the show, Haslett approached the royal prince, who told him:
"'You're just here to get information for your number, right?"
Haslett replied:
"Yes sir, exactly."
c.2023 The New York Times Company
look also
Prince Harry is right, and it's not just a matter of royal gossip
A tea and a photo put King Carlos in the crosshairs