Heidi Agan looks the spitting image of the Princess of Wales, and often sees people doing a double-take when she’s walking in the street.
People first started commenting on the resemblance when she was working as a waitress in 2011, around the time of Kate and Prince William’s marriage.
She didn’t think anything of it at first, but after people started asking to be served by her or have their picture taken from her, she decided to contact an agency to see if she could make it as a lookalike.
It wasn’t long before she started getting work, appearing at private parties and promotional events all over the world, Birmingham Live reports.
She’s appeared at a private party alongside lookalikes of the Queen and Harry Potter, and spent 10 days in Melbourne working on an advert for Chinese Jersey milk.
Heidi, originally from Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire, says work dried up during the pandemic but things have picked up again.
She said: "Usually what we do follows what they do, so the busier they are the busier we are. I am sure as Prince and Princess of Wales they are going to be busier and we haven't seen what they will focus on yet.
"Charles was very much into agriculture, we don't know what William will do. Catherine is still taking the mental health route which is fab and she's trying to carve out her route differently to Diana.
"I'm up and down the country at the moment. In the build up to Christmas it's helping people advertise for Christmas which is good as the past few Christmases have been quiet.
"I think we're happy as a country to be out of the pandemic, we are entering another difficult time, but as Brits we love to make fun of ourselves and have fun and that's what we bring to an event - and the Royal Family isn't going away."
Heidi’s job requires her to keep her appearance up-to-date with Kate’s, including hairstyles, fashion and even baby bumps.
"It's great, I can eat cake when she's pregnant, but there's new outfits to get and a lot of work there.”
Based on what Heidi’s learnt about William and Kate’s life, she doesn’t think the Prince of Wales is keen on having another baby, so she doesn’t expect to be whipping out the prosthetic baby bump again.
Heidi, 42, says the 'Kate effect' – the public’s fascination with the Princess’s fashion choices – puts pressure on her to buy the royal’s latest outfits before they sell out.
She once made her son go to Mango to get a dress for her because it was out of stock the moment she went to look for it online.
Describing how it takes a few hours to get ready as a Kate lookalike, Heidi said: “I wish I could fall out of bed with amazing hair like she has. Luckily she doesn't stray too far from what we're used to seeing.
"It's big news when she gets a fringe. That was the worst thing, I hope she regrets it too and doesn't get it cut in again."
Not only is Heidi mistaken as the Princess of Wales, she’s also recognised locally as her lookalike too.
"I was in Tesco the other day and it's nice because you know people haven't forgotten, a worker said 'are you that girl who does Kate?', and it's lovely when that happens.
"I went to London recently and this guy was staring at me and his little girl said: 'Why are you looking' and he said: 'I know that girl from somewhere'. I get a quick double-take normally and you can see their thought process.
"I don't mind it, I would never want to be her, under that level of scrutiny and pressure, so the little double-takes are enough."
Heidi has received more than a dozen marriage proposals since becoming an impersonator, but she has also received multiple death threats.
She said: "It's the world of social media, there's always people who say, 'why are you trying to be somebody else?',
“When it first happened, I was so taken aback by the amount of hate that comes from people but now I've learned that that's the way it is. Everybody has an opinion.
"If my children see something negative, I can talk to them about my personal experience and it's important to education your children to help them."
For more information about booking Heidi as a lookalike, click here.
