The market for professional Kate Middleton lookalikes was beginning to flourish, with party organisers and companies keen to have the woman considered Queeninwaiting at their functions.
Tall, slim and beautiful girls were being signed by agencies for what promised to be a lucrative and exciting job. So, how do the Kate lookalikes feel about their careers ending so prematurely?
Call me Kate: (from left) Kerry Taylor, Hannah Northedge, Lyndsylee Spence and Louise Lyne
Kerry Taylor, 31, was a full-time Kate Middleton lookalike. She lives with her husband Dean, 43, a professional Austin Powers and Borat lookalike, and their two children, Oliver, five, and Auston, five months, in Essex.
She says: A few months ago my husband Dean and I were browsing in Harrods when we overheard someone ask: "Is that Kate Middleton?" and point at me.
At first I just thought it was funny being mistaken for her. At that time, I was a full-time mum, running around after my little boys all day.
But the longer I thought about it the more it seemed possible. We have the same hair, same build and, like her, I have quite plain facial characteristics.
There's nothing about my face that jumps out at you, all my characteristics are in proportion and quite subtle.
Because Dean was already in the lookalike industry I knew how lucrative being a lookalike could be, so I thought I would give it a go.
Dean has loads of contacts, so he got me signed to an agency and gave me lots of advice and tips, to give me the best chance of success.
The most important thing he told me was to do my research and know as much as you can about the celebrity you're impersonating. So I pored over magazines like Hello! which always featured shots of Kate, and tried to copy her "look".
It was handy for me that she's a fan of High Street clothes because it meant I could buy exactly the same outfits as her when I was doing my impersonations.
I bought the Topshop monochrome dress she wore on her 25th birthday, and picked up a few pieces from one of her favourite shops, Katherine Hooker, on London's Fulham Road. I tried to use an accent I thought would chime with her plummy Home Counties voice, though it was hard because we never really hear her speak.
Tall, slim and beautiful girls were being signed by agencies for what promised to be a lucrative and exciting job. So, how do the Kate lookalikes feel about their careers ending so prematurely?
Call me Kate: (from left) Kerry Taylor, Hannah Northedge, Lyndsylee Spence and Louise Lyne
Kerry Taylor, 31, was a full-time Kate Middleton lookalike. She lives with her husband Dean, 43, a professional Austin Powers and Borat lookalike, and their two children, Oliver, five, and Auston, five months, in Essex.
She says: A few months ago my husband Dean and I were browsing in Harrods when we overheard someone ask: "Is that Kate Middleton?" and point at me.
At first I just thought it was funny being mistaken for her. At that time, I was a full-time mum, running around after my little boys all day.
But the longer I thought about it the more it seemed possible. We have the same hair, same build and, like her, I have quite plain facial characteristics.
There's nothing about my face that jumps out at you, all my characteristics are in proportion and quite subtle.
Because Dean was already in the lookalike industry I knew how lucrative being a lookalike could be, so I thought I would give it a go.
Dean has loads of contacts, so he got me signed to an agency and gave me lots of advice and tips, to give me the best chance of success.
The most important thing he told me was to do my research and know as much as you can about the celebrity you're impersonating. So I pored over magazines like Hello! which always featured shots of Kate, and tried to copy her "look".
It was handy for me that she's a fan of High Street clothes because it meant I could buy exactly the same outfits as her when I was doing my impersonations.
I bought the Topshop monochrome dress she wore on her 25th birthday, and picked up a few pieces from one of her favourite shops, Katherine Hooker, on London's Fulham Road. I tried to use an accent I thought would chime with her plummy Home Counties voice, though it was hard because we never really hear her speak.