Heidi Agan, Kate Middleton's Most Prominent Lookalike, Is Back in the News

The press attention that the British Royal Family has been receiving in recent weeks has been intense, and that attention has come almost entirely because of Kate Middleton's apparent disappearance from public life. The Duchess of Cambridge had surgery in January 2024 and she hasn't been seen in public since Dec. 25, 2023.

That was true until March 18, 2024, when a video surfaced that appeared to show Kate out and about at a market in Windsor. The video seemed to quash any theories that Kate might be dead or seriously ill and seemed to further suggest that the whole affair had been nothing more than a PR snafu for the royal family (the latest in a long line). Some weren't willing to so easily give up on their theories though, which is where Kate's lookalike Heidi Agan comes in.

Heidi Agan is a fellow U.K. citizen who has made headlines at various points over the years because of the striking resemblance she bears to the future queen. Heidi has leaned into the comparison, styling herself as Kate's most prominent doppelganger.

Heidi first emerged after Kate came to prominence during her royal wedding to Prince William in 2011. At the time, she was waitressing in a restaurant.

When customers repeatedly began asking her to take photos with them, or to be served by them, Heidi realized there might be a way for her to monetize her resemblance to Kate.

“Within a month I got my first job for Gatwick Airport to promote their customer service ahead of the London 2012 Olympics," Heidi explained. She eventually found that looking like Kate got her enough work to allow her to quit waitressing.

“I was getting so much work I decided to quit my waitressing job,” Heidi explained. “It was a tough decision and I wasn’t sure how long it would last, but it’s paid off and I now earn between £500 and £3,000 per job, with around three jobs a week.”

Heidi added that the work changes from gig to gig, and she can never be sure what to expect. So was it Heidi at that Windsor market? At this point, it seems pretty unlikely.

Paul Joyce is proof that Kate isn't the only one who gets impersonators. Paul works as a William impersonator, and his Instagram handle makes that clear: @princewilliamlookslikeme.

Paul hasn't achieved quite the same level of success or prominence as Heidi, but he appears to get steady work stepping in as William and he spends some of his time working with Kate impersonators.

Because William hasn't been absent from the public eye for months on end, no one suspects that Paul is quietly subbing in for the real William. He may get hired doing plenty of work impersonating the future king, but Paul's profile hasn't blown up in quite the same way that Heidi's has.