The 26-year-old was on his first job as a look-alike of Prince William. Kate Middleton is engaged to wed the heir to the throne a week from Friday. Demand for doppelgängers of the couple is red hot. By transforming himself into a twin of the balding royal, Mr. Cooper hopes to cash in on a problem in the business: Kate ringers are a dime a dozen, but a good Will is hard to find. (read more after the break)
Agencies for celebrity impersonators say Ms. Middleton, with her long brown hair and knee-high boots, is easier to copy. And women, they say, are more accustomed to changing their appearance. "Men are less willing to convert their style into someone else's look," says Gene Daily, owner of London agency Top Lookalikes. "They come in with their own hair styles that they've had since they were children, and see no need to change them."
Mr. Daily himself spent 20 years in Hollywood as a look-alike of Clark Gable. Now he rents out ersatz versions of the Obamas, the Beckhams, Brad Pitt and the perennial top seller, Marilyn Monroe, for commercials and corporate events. When he got photos of Mr. Cooper, a tall man with blue eyes and a toothy smile, he called the next day.
For years, Mr. Cooper endured comments on how much he looks like the prince. His Aunt Jennie from Brighton said so. His girlfriend's stepmother said so. Drunken strangers said so. His boss, Dean Morey, bowed to him each morning. When the royal engagement was announced last November, Mr. Morey proposed a bet: He would send photos to look-alike agencies. If Mr. Cooper didn't make it as a pretend prince, he would give him £100 (about $163).
As an electrician, Mr. Cooper earns about £600 a week. As a professional doppelgänger, Mr. Cooper can make £400 in an eight-hour day. But Mr. Daily felt he needed some adjustments. "You gotta lighten your hair," he told Mr. Cooper on their first meeting at a crowded pub, over beers with Emily Turner, a dead ringer for Ms. Middleton. "If you show up somewhere, you've got to show up with confidence. And you have to work on your accent."
Then the fake couple posed for pictures on a parade ground near Buckingham Palace, where Mr. Cooper hadn't visited since his mother took him and his brother to watch the changing of the guard when he was a boy. Japanese tourists took pictures of Mr. Daily taking pictures. The photos wound up on Mr. Daily's website, touting Mr. Cooper as being "well on his way to a new and exciting job as one of the world's premier lookalikes."
"Look at Kate," Mr. Daily called out from behind his camera. "Remember, this is supposed to be about the two of you." Mr. Cooper struggled with his hands. "You've got to put your arm around her," shouted his girlfriend, Joana Humphries, along for the outing. "If you're going to do this, do it properly."
Ms. Humphries, a 24-year-old event planner, looks nothing like Kate. But she took the first photos of Mr. Cooper—wearing his only suit—and says she supports the project as long as it doesn't involve kissing princesses.
After work one night, the two worked on Mr. Cooper's accent, watching a YouTube video of Prince William in the electrician's narrow row house on the edge of London's commuter belt.
"What I think is seriously important," said the prince on the screen.
"What I think is impo'int," repeated Mr. Cooper.
"You need to make your voice more posh," said Ms. Humphries.
"I'll have to do more practicing," Mr. Cooper acknowledged.
"Say, 'I love you, Kate,'" Ms. Humphries suggested, then changed her mind. "They don't really express that so much, do they?"
One beer later, the pair scrolled through pictures to get a fix on Mr. Cooper's outfit. There are images of Prince William in uniform, in polo gear and in a morning coat, a photo of him with a beard and one in swimming trunks. "You'd have to grow some chest hair for that one," said Ms. Humphries.
When a search for "how to dress like Prince William" brought up more results on Ms. Middleton than William, the couple scanned retailer websites for the khakis and V-neck sweaters the prince seems to favor as casual wear. "We can always get you a soldier outfit from a fancy dress store," Ms. Humphries said.
Ten days later, Mr. Cooper was decked out in a blue V-neck and chinos for his first paying gig as the prince. "You look good—more similar than I expected," said Clive Howard, who was directing a commercial for British gambling company Ladbrokes. The betting parlor's aim is to draw attention to the firm's wedding-related wagers, where gamblers can bet on the color of the queen's hat, the sex of Kate and William's first child, or whether William will drop the ring at the ceremony.
After a tattooed make-up artist thinned his hair, Mr. Cooper faced new challenges. In the first scene, he walked down a narrow hall with Ms. Turner, who was holding a leash with two corgis, the queen's favorite pooches, as Mr. Cooper struggled to keep up or smile at the right time.
In another scene, the couple were to practice a wedding dance that turns out to be a polished disco number. For Mr. Cooper, it meant putting on dance shoes, a red silk shirt and John Travolta-style headband and shouting, "Who let the dogs out?" as Ms. Turner yelped, "Woof, woof, woof." Later came his biggest challenge: actually dancing. "I absolutely have no rhythm whatsoever, I have two left feet," he says afterward. "It was a bit embarrassing."
After eight hours of royal duty, Mr. Cooper had made £400 ($651), more than three times his daily pay on commercial-construction sites. His next royal engagement was at a call center, where he and Ms. Turner mingled with employees and posed for pictures. Despite his budding career as a blue blood, however, there are limits to Mr. Cooper's dedication: For the weekend of the royal wedding, which takes place April 29, he plans to be on vacation in Spain.
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