There are few avenues available for those wanting to become a royal.
One way is to be born into the royal family, and another is to marry into it.
But Australian engineer Simon Watkinson has constructed his own path, of sorts — by styling himself as one of the royal family's most prominent members.
For the Prince William lookalike, who moved from Adelaide to London about 15 years ago, the recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations have ensured a packed schedule, including garden parties and media appearances.
"I've been busier than the actual royals — I've been appearing in all the places they can't get to, as a lookalike," he told ABC Radio Adelaide's Stacey Lee and Nikolai Beilharz.
Mr Watkinson has been impersonating the future king for more than a decade, signing up with a lookalike agency just before his doppelganger's nuptials in 2011.
"I was told from a very young age from relatives in England that I looked like Prince William but never really thought about it," he said.
"Then I moved to London in 2006 and I was told endlessly on the streets that I looked like Prince William.
"Just before the royal wedding … I looked into it and I joined a lookalike agency and then the next day I was basically doing a photo shoot and it just all went from there."
By his own admission, Mr Watkinson has become somewhat accustomed to the royal treatment, "doing parties and flying around the world".
"I've been flown in a helicopter to open housing developments where I land and then cut a ribbon and all sorts of things like that," he said.
Seeking inspiration from The Crown
Mr Watkinson hails from suburban Adelaide — not, alas, from Royal Park, nor from Elizabeth (named after the current monarch), but from Brooklyn Park in the city's inner west.
While demand for royal impersonators took a negative plunge during the COVID-19 pandemic, business has again peaked, thanks to Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which have just ended with a pageant in London.
When he's not being stopped in the street or appearing at ceremonies wearing full regalia, Mr Watkinson works as a civil engineer.
He concedes he doesn't spend exorbitant amounts of time sharpening up his act, but instead prefers to let his appearance do the talking.
"Because of the Australian accent … I try not to say much, which I think is sort of in keeping with the royals — they don't tend to say much," he joked.
"They're in the news so much that it's so easy to read about them all the time.
While The Crown sometimes depicts the life of the modern royal as a lonely and isolated existence, Mr Watkinson is kept company by a supporting cast.
"There's a whole royal family of lookalikes," he said.
"I have a few different Kates but I tend to just work with one main Kate and, yes, we do have lookalikes of the children and even have lookalikes of the dogs."
But will he ever meet the real Will? That's a fortuity he suspects may even elude someone with the royal touch.
"I know some people who know him, journalists and some of the people who work for him, and he is aware of me but I don't think they'd ever let us meet," he said.
"I was at an event where he came and all his security came in advance and they spotted me in the crowd and they were keeping a watchful eye on me, but they had a bit of a laugh."
