A professional Queen lookalike has revealed that she plans to give up her job after 34 years "out of respect" for the late monarch. Mary Reynolds, an 89-year-old woman from Epping, Essex, plans to keep the outfits she uses to impersonate Her Majesty in memory of a woman who "felt like part of the family".
The royal fan, who has appeared on TV and film, originally became a lookalike in 1988, and was first told that she looks like Queen Elizabeth II when she was just 17-years-old. Throughout her career, Mary featured in 1990 comedy film Bullseye with the late Sir Roger Moore as well as an episode of Doctor Who in 1988 as part of the 25th anniversary series.
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Mary said that she felt "lucky" to look like the Queen but felt it was the right time to hang up her doppelganger boots after the sad news of the late Queen's passing.
"It's been a great privilege to look like her because I think she's so incredible," she said.
"I was watching the television the day before and felt that there was going to be some bad news, which of course eventually came and it makes you feel very, very, very sad.
"And then you do sort of realise that will be the end as far as I'm concerned... out of respect, I don't think one should do anything."
The difficult decision has been painful for Mary, as the Queen has played such a major part in her career and life.
"I've just moved home... and I've got two boxes full of hats and I've just found somewhere to put them and I thought: I'm not really going to need them anymore," she explained, before adding that it "makes you very sad".
Mary said that she plans to keep her Queen-inspired outfits as they have "been part of my life for so long". The Queen was revered for her wonderfully bright outfits, and the impersonator certainly honoured the late monarchs' dress sense as she has two separate wardrobes for her normal and royal outfits.
The lookalike even admits that she sometimes dips into "the Queen's" closet if she is going somewhere special.
Reminiscing on moments from her 34-year-long career, Mary spoke of the sheer excitement people felt when they saw her in public.
"We went to Uganda for British Airways and Sheraton Hotels and they had a racing event on the shores of Lake Victoria," she said.
"I was just walking around and an African woman dressed up in her robes was going 'ooh' every time she saw me because I was 'the Queen'."
The 89-year-old looks so similar to the Queen that she once had to be rescued while filming in Greenwich, London, because she was bombarded by "so many people wanting pictures".
Despite never meeting Her Majesty, Mary said that she was present at several of the late Queen's most important milestones.
"I was in the Mall when she got married and I was just off of the Mall for her coronation," she explained.
"I slept overnight in the road with my boyfriend, in tents. We got very wet and we got very lucky because one of the buildings there had a radio so we actually heard the whole of the service.
"And as they put the crown on her head, the heavens opened."
In a bid to emulate the late Queen's dignified and graceful character, Mary added that she always tried to "act like the Queen and to be nice to and respect people".
"She was a person who was so much light and she was a very well-loved person and friends with everybody," she continued.
"She just felt like part of the family, almost.
"I've had all these years of doing the work and it has helped me earn some money, but at the same time it was a pleasure for people to see you and say: 'It's the Queen.'
"Wherever you went in the world, it was the Queen - not Queen Elizabeth, not the Queen of England, it was the Queen. There will never be anyone like her."
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This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain's longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get both pull-outs.
