Lookalikes are fully engaged in run-up to the royal wedding

Modelling agencies are celebrating the royal wedding as demand for Prince William and Kate Middleton lookalikes is booming.

They are being hired to open shops, add some glamour to corporate parties and appear on television.

London lookalike agency Susan Scott said bookings for William and Kate lookalikes have rocketed since the engagement. A spokesman said: "We have been absolutely inundated. About 95 per cent of our bookings are for Williams and Kates." Bookings for the royal couple start at about £500 and can run into thousands.

One Kate lookalike, Kate Bevan, 22, quit her job in a pharmacy to work full-time in the role shortly after the couple announced their engagement in November.

Ms Bevan and a William lookalike were driven along the royal wedding route in a horse-drawn carriage for a Japanese television show.

"That created loads of interest and commotion," she said. "I do really enjoy the work. I just hope it continues but if it doesn't at least I've had great fun along the way."

Simon Watkinson, 29, also spotted a career opportunity when he was constantly mistaken for Prince William in pubs, on the Tube and in his local supermarket.

Since signing up to an agency Mr Watkinson, a civil engineer from Islington, has appeared in a book by celebrity photographer Alison Jackson and was flown by helicopter to an event in the Isle of Wight, where he walked on a red carpet to cheering crowds waving Union Jacks.

"It's very surreal," he said. "Some old ladies came up to me and were saying how they had met my mother and that she was a lovely woman. I didn't want to ruin their excitement so I just said thank you very much."