Jeanette Charles, a famous lookalike of Queen Elizabeth, has passed away.
Charles died at her care home in Great Baddow, Essex on June 6th at the age of 96: the same age the late Queen was when she passed away.
The news was confirmed by her daughter Carol Christophi in a statement to UK media.
“Mum was a real character and a force of nature. She had an amazing life,” Christophi said. “She was always respectful of the queen and adored the royal family.”
Charles first stepped into the spotlight in the 1970s and became known for her iconic portrayals of Queen Elizabeth in famous film and television roles.
The lookalike played the queen in an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1977 before landing one of her most recognisable appearances in the National Lampoon franchise.
She played Queen Elizabeth in National Lampoon’s European Vacation in 1985, before against stepping into the role of the monarch for a scene in The Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad! in 1988.
Charles continued to double for the Queen onscreen into the early noughties with another notable performance in the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember, before she retired from acting in 2004.
“Ever since I can remember I have been told I looked like the young Princess Elizabeth and this carried on as we both grew up,” she once said in an interview.
Writing for The Guardian in 2022, Charles recalled the first time she was recognised as the Queen from someone aside her agent.
“On a trip to Greenwich when I was 11 or 12, a photographer asked if he could use me in some shots, saying, ‘She looks like Princess Elizabeth’,” he star wrote.
“Later, I’d draw crowds, especially abroad, and sometimes had to run away.”
“I don’t think anyone else had earned a living by resembling someone famous before – now there’s a whole industry,” she wrote.
Image credits: Shutterstock / New Line Cinema
