Prince Harry lookalike says he's naming daughter in honour of royal's mum


Rhys Whittock has been playing the red-headed royal since the Duke of Sussex got engaged to Meghan Markle in 2017.

The 40-year-old wed his very own duchess, Maria, 26, earlier this year – and the pair are due to have a baby girl in April.

They are now also considering a move to California – just like Harry and Meghan.

The pair chose the name Diana in part as a tribute to Harry and the Royal Family, who Rhys says he “owes so much to”.

But Maria’s mother, Svetlana, who has frequently been mistaken for the late Princess of Wales, also had a dream that felt almost like a premonition.

Maria said: “She had a dream that she was sitting in a chair holding a baby in her arms, and she knew it was our baby and she was called Diana.

“She told me that before the wedding, then we got married and a month later we were pregnant.”

Rhys added: “I think it is quite nice that the name is based on Maria’s mother’s dream but it is also a fitting tribute to both Prince Harry and mother.

“I have a lot to thank Harry for. It changed my life completely when I started working as a lookalike and it even led to me meeting Maria.

“I was working and she saw me and she said ‘you do look like Prince Harry but have nicer hair’. So we do have a lot to thank the royal connection for.”

The couple have been wondering what features the baby will have. Rhys said: “We’re really curious, thinking whose genetics are going to be more dominant. Maria says she hopes she has my small ears, and I hope she has Maria’s beautiful smile.

“Will she have ginger hair or Maria’s dark hair? It is exciting to find out.”

Rhys’s career as a doppelgänger has gone from strength to strength. In 2018 he took top place as the best Prince Harry lookalike in Europe, and this year he won the best royal lookalike in Britain.

In May he played the Prince as part of court re-enactments on GB News. And he says the first time he ever changed a nappy was when he was on a photo shoot with a lookalike baby Archie.

And the parallels don’t end there, as he says he is now considering a move to California for work.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit as working royals in January 2020, and have since settled into an £11.5million mansion in Montecito.

Rhys, who survived a traumatic skiing accident earlier this year, added: “Every day is different. Sometimes I am booked for private parties, birthdays, hen parties. The women now getting married had crushes on Harry as teens. I also do lots of things in the press, photo shoots, endorsements.

“It was a complete shock for him to announce he was leaving. I thought that was my job over. Fortunately for me they didn’t hide away or shy from the press and have been in it even more.

“As long as they maintain their image on the front page, as long as they’re busy I’m busy.

“I would be quite interested to find out if there could be work for me in California.”

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