Royal Family Caught Drunk Without Pants Before the Wedding? Not Quite
Photographer Alison Jackson uses actors to impersonate royal family in photos.
April 1, 2011— -- New photos released of preparations for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding show the royal family in a tantalizing and scandalous new light.
In one photo, Prince William is being taped to a lamppost in what looks like a bachelor party gone awry. The bride-to-be, Kate, appears to be cutting a five-tier wedding cake with a sword in another photo. One shows Camilla in her knickers, slumped over a chair after too much Bourbon. And yet another shows Prince Charles busting a move on the dance floor with Lady Gaga.
But wait a minute, isn't the royal wedding on April 29?
Yes, and this wasn't a dress rehearsal for the big day. It's all a farce.
Artist and photographer Alison Jackson of Hampshire, England used lookalike actors to impersonate the royal family and other celebrities. She then created elaborate and often grossly exaggerated scenes with them, all the while taking photos and video.
"I'm not commenting on the real celebrity but our perception of them," Jackson told ABC News. "I'm seduced by the celebrity image but I want to break the spell."
Jackson said she doesn't hate the royals but, like many, is fascinated by them because they're so mysterious. Queen Elizabeth has never given an interview and the princes have all been very guarded about their public images.
"I also think the royal family is so shrouded in tradition and history and costume and that is intriguing," she said. "Nobody lives like our royal family. No one has a staff of 2,000 costumed servants."
Jackson's new tongue-in-cheek book, "Kate and Wills Up the Aisle: A Right Royal Fairy Tale" is in bookstores now.
