MY LONG REIGN AS THE BEST DOUBLE OF QUEEN
MARY’S HIGH LIFE AS ROYAL LOOKALIKE
THE longest-reigning HRH lookalike says she gets treated like royalty wherever she goes.
Having been confused for Queen Elizabeth II since she was a teenager, 85-year-old Mary Reynolds decided to make money out of her similarity 30 years ago.
After Mary’s late husband nudged her into a career, she has travelled the globe in regal glad rags.
Mary said: “It started off when I was 17. I went to Holland for a holiday and someone said, ‘You look like Princess Elizabeth’. But I never thought anything much of it.”
She was later stopped by a stranger while out shopping because they thought she was well-known Queen lookalike Jeannette Charles.
She then swapped her quiet life as a bank cashier for a glamorous jet setting lifestyle posing as the Queen.
Mary said: “When I thought I might be able to do something about it my husband took pictures of me for a portfolio. Two Americans walked past and said, ‘Is that the Queen?’.
“My first gig as a full-time double was in the 25th anniversary of Doctor Who in 1988.”
After she appeared in the BBC sci-fi favourite, the work just kept coming in for Mary and she is currently fully booked until next summer.
Mary, from Harrow Weald, northwest London met Sir Elton John in Las Vegas and appeared alongside Sir Roger Moore and Sir Michael Caine in the film Bullseye!.
Mary, who is seven years the Queen’s junior, said: “About eight of us went to the south of France for a Russian general’s 70th birthday.
“A mix of lookalikes were brought to a beautiful hotel where we were treated like royalty. It was absolutely fabulous.”
Mary’s husband Ron was her biggest supporter as she forged a career in the lookalike industry.
She added: “It wasn’t until after my husband died that my career got going properly, but it all started with the photos he took and finding me an agent.
“He was very chuffed to have a wife who looked like the Queen. I never ever thought I would have the courage to do it.
“But if you can get money for it there’s an added incentive.”
Mary recently appeared in the promo for MTV’s The Royal World. She added: “I’m very lucky to look like the Queen.
“Some people can be very good lookalikes but if they’re not in the public eye a lot of the time they won’t get a constant stream of work. It’s a weird world.”