(OurNationNews.com) – Jeannette Charles, the actress who was best known for playing Queen Elizabeth II in several films, passed away at the age of 96.
Her death was confirmed by her daughter Carol Christophi. Charles died in Great Baddow, Essex, at a hospice care facility. In her announcement, Christophi called her mother a “force of nature” and said that her mother had always held the late Queen Elizabeth II and the rest of the royal family in high regard and respect.
Incidentally, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022, was also 96 when she died.
Charles made a career of impersonating the late and beloved queen. She first discovered how uncannily alike they looked when during a 1971 visit to Capri in Italy, Charles was mistaken for Elizabeth. She began by appearing on posters and children’s TV shows, as well as attending openings for local businesses, posing as Queen Elizabeth II. However, she added Hollywood credits to her resumé, appearing as the queen in films such as the 1985 comedy National Lampoon’s European Vacation (starring Chevy Chase), Leslie Nielsen’s 1988 comedy The Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad!, and Austin Powers: Goldmember in 2002, another comedy that starred Mike Myers.
In a 2012 interview, Charles said that she turned down a role offered by controversial parody and satire comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, as she deemed it “so offensive”.
Banking on her resemblance to Elizabeth, Charles took elocution lessons to bring her impersonation to a much higher level, saying in a 2017 interview that the whole process took her four weeks to perfect.
Charles published an autobiography called “The Queen and I” in 1986. She is survived by her three children, David, Peter and Carol. Her husband, Kenneth Charles, worked as an executive for British Petroleum and passed away in 1997.
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