DI THAT CHANGED MY LIFE; INTERVIEW : Christina Hance.One day she was an unemployed, single mum living in a drab estate in Cambridgeshire - the next she was being treated like a princess. Christina Hance has never looked back since a boyfriend entered her for a Princess Of Wales Noun 1. Princess of Wales - English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles; her death in an automobile accident in Paris produced intense national mourning (1961-1997) Diana, Lady Diana Frances Spencer, Princess Diana lookalike competition ten years ago. Her uncanny resemblance to Diana has paid for a luxury flat in North London North London is a part of London, England which has several possible definitions. River & geography The part of London north of the River Thames (illustrated). , dozens of designer dresses and a Sloane Ranger Sloane Ranger Noun Informal (in Britain) a young upper-class woman having a home in London and in the country, characterized as wearing expensive informal clothes [from Sloane Square, London + Lone Ranger, cowboy hero] champagne lifestyle. She says: "I'm shouted at and recognised wherever I go, either as myself or by people who think I am Diana. I don't mind. I make a living." Christina's rags-to-riches story is told in the The Day That Changed My Life: The Princess And I (BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. 2, 7.30pm). At first, the transition was tough. "I had turned from a nobody into a somebody and was in turmoil," she says. "But I had seen another world and going back was impossible." Countless marriage proposals, offers of weekend breaks abroad and life membership of London's glitziest clubs followed. Christina, 35, has studied hours of video footage of Diana, pored over pictures and even watched the Princess in public to try to perfect the look. Appearance fees of up to pounds 5,000-a-day helped keep her motivation strong - her success as a lookalike was her ticket out of a poverty trap poverty trap Noun the situation of being unable to raise one's living standard because any extra income would result in state benefits being reduced or withdrawn Noun 1. . Christina was brought up in Cambridgeshire and had daughter Sarah when she was in her teens (she is vague about the details). "Things were not easy, as you can imagine," she says. "But soon after winning the competition, I was in Stringfellows nightclub in London'd West End. "The owner, Peter Stringfellow Peter James Stringfellow (born October 17, 1940 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is a multi-millionaire businessman. The son of a steelworker, he owns the Stringfellows table-dancing clubs in London & Paris. , gave me life membership and the paparazzi pa·pa·raz·zo n. pl. pa·pa·raz·zi A freelance photographer who doggedly pursues celebrities to take candid pictures for sale to magazines and newspapers. were taking pictures of me. "I don't think I look much like Diana. But there is something in my face that does remind people of her. They really want to believe." What she doesn't want to believe are the proposals and weird offers she gets. But Christina can handle tricky situations. For instance, how about the Sunday newspaper story earlier this year alleging she had taken cocaine and offered sex for money? "Sorry - I think the line has gone. I cannot hear you," she teased. Oh, well - with that skill in avoiding the embarrassing, perhaps this lookalike could step into the breach now that Diana's Press aide has resigned. |
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