Rhys Whittock has a special reason for wanting the Duke of Sussex back
A Cardiff-born estate agent says he is very happy that Prince Harry is back in the UK because it means he is likely to get more work. Rhys Whittock started working as a Duke of Sussex lookalike when Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in 2017, and he describes it as ‘the best job in the world’.
But he feared it was the end when Harry and Meghan moved to the USA. Rhys told Heart Bingo: “Initially I thought, ‘Oh, this is an amazing job, and it’s all going to finish.’ But when Harry started doing deals with Netflix, Spotify, and that Oprah Winfrey interview, I got bookings.
“I had to do reenactment shots for a TV show and Prince Harry’s book ‘Spare’ kept me incredibly busy. There were a few things that did make work go quiet, mainly because Harry did leave the UK. Then COVID hit, and that really killed events completely for a couple of years.
“The other thing that was really detrimental to being busy was the passing of the Queen. She was the most popular royal for people outside of the UK, and everyone really looked up to her.”
Rhys now looks forward to being busier again. He said: “I think the announcement caught everyone by surprise. I am very pleased to hear that they’re back.
“It is now believable that you could bump into them at an event. I think they obviously want to keep their privacy pretty tight, but I’m sure we’re going to see Harry going to events and enquiries for me have been coming in. Personally, I think it’s been quite clear that he really loved growing up in the UK.
“He loves his country, and there are multiple reasons why I think he came back. He is keen for his family to grow up here, and he seems to want to reconcile with everyone, but it was always going to be tricky with an ocean between you.”
The Duke of Sussex’s first “public engagements” since his return to the UK have been announced, with Harry set to lead a run of charity events this month. Harry will attend the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards and the launch of the Invictus education programme INSPIRE, as well as taking part in one of his favourite annual occasions, the WellChild Awards.
Harry and Meghan stepped away from the working monarchy six years ago in search of personal and financial freedom in the US. Two weeks ago, they moved back, having enrolled their children Archie and Lili in British schools, with Meghan rumoured to be returning to acting again.
In January 2020, the duke and duchess had announced they intended to step back as “senior” members of the royal family, become financially independent, still support Queen Elizabeth II, but split their time between the UK and North America. But the late Queen ruled at the Sandringham Summit, which was convened to resolve the Megxit crisis, that the couple could not be half in and half out – with the King recently asserting the agreement still stands.
Rhys desvribed his parents as Royal fans, adding: “My mum was quite a big fan of the royals. I think she saw the late Queen one day when she visited Cardiff. My dad actually went to the same university as Charles when he was Prince of Wales. Charles was a year or two above him, but he was there at the same time as my dad in Aberystwyth. But he never bumped into him in person.”
Rhys said his time as a lookalike has been ‘up and down’, adding: “I started working as a lookalike the day after Harry and Meghan announced their engagement back in November 2017. People kept stopping me on the street and making comments to me over the years about my resemblance to him.
“Back in 2011, I sent my photo off to an agency, but at the time nobody got back to me. Harry wasn’t in the media as much, and there wasn’t as much demand. So when they got engaged, one of the agencies actually kept my name on file, and they emailed me the next day.
“When they got married in that summer of 2018, it was just super busy. I did a PR stunt for easyJet, a PR stunt for Hot Tub Company where we ended up on BBC Breakfast News, and I also appeared on This Morning. It’s such a varied job. I was even doing advertising for a wedding cake for Morrison’s.”
And while his parents had Royal encountersm Rhys is still waiting for his. He said: “Hopefully one day it would be great to see Harry and meet him in person. I’m aware that he looks at all the media published about him, so I’m sure he’s come across me a little bit. Hopefully he takes it in good nature.”
Rhys explained how he has trabsformed himself into the Prince. He said: “I used YouTube a lot. Also, because of his autobiography Spare, he recorded an audiobook. You’ve got his actual voice to listen to for hours and hours. So, I studied it and practised the speed he speaks at and his tone. His voice is very Etonian and quite deep, so it’s quite different to mine in a way. I’ve got a little bit of a Welsh accent, so I have to try and hide that.
“Initially, you could actually hire military outfits out from a store. My friend then suggested it’d be a really good idea to get the suit myself, so she really helped me to source all of the finer details. The one I have; it’s an actual ex-soldier’s suit. It’s got his name inside. So we built it up to match everything, including replica medals. That was a few £100 to do the proper job and make it as authentic as possible. It’s very thick and heavy to wear as well.”
Rhy’s job has taken him arround the world. He said: “I flew 12 hours to Macau, China for a billionaire’s 75th birthday party. The other lookalikes for Prince William and the late Queen Elizabeth II also came along, so all three of us were in business class at Heathrow Airport about to fly to China. We had a lot of comments from the cabin crew.
“He was one of the richest men in Malaysia and very much a big fan of everything British, so they had tribute acts of Adele and Elton John there as well. They also created a replica set of Buckingham Palace, including the gates and the concrete pillars made from actual metal and stone. The birthday cake was a royal carriage. I was there for 48 hours for a one-hour appearance.”
Rhys said he will now wait and see what happens next, adding: “Obviously now Harry’s a man in his forties, just like myself. I think lookalikes come in and out of fashion a little bit. It’ll be really interesting to see what happens over the next few months.”
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