Jeannette Dorothea Louise Charles (née Clark; 15 October 1927 – 2 June 2024) was a British actress noted for her portrayals of Queen Elizabeth II, branding her "the Queen's most famous lookalike".
Background
Jeannette Clark was born in Marylebone, London, in 1927. Her father, Alfred, was a restaurateur, and her mother, who was born Yetta Wonsoff, was a Dutch immigrant originally from Poland. She instead became an au pair in the United States, living in Midland, Texas, in the early 1950s. While there, she met Ken Charles, a fellow British expat who was working as an oil engineer; they married in 1957 and lived across North America, South America, and Africa as part of his job, before returning to the United Kingdom from Libya in 1969. Once, when invited to an event in which Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother would also be present, she did not agree to appear until she received confirmation from Clarence House that the Queen Mother would not be offended. and Mind Your Language episode Season 2, Episode 2, "Queen for a Day", in 1978. She published a memoir in 1986. She died in a Great Baddow care home on 2 June 2024, at the age of 96. Her husband Ken, with whom she had three children, had died in 1997.
Partial filmography
- Leos Leiden (1976) – The Queen
- Secrets of a Superstud (1976) – The Lady
- Queen Kong (1977) – HM The Queen (uncredited)
- Mind Your Language (1977) – Mrs. Baxter
- All You Need Is Cash (or The Rutles) (1978) – A Queen of England
- National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) – Queen Elizabeth