Kate Middleton mocked as a gold digger in Chinese tourism video
'I didn't marry into royalty to schlep around in a taxi': Kate is branded a gold-digger in bizarre promotional video for Chinese city
- Bizarre advertisement sees royal lookalikes trying to hail a taxi
- It shows the 'Duchess' moaning because she can't use the royal limo
- Video appears to mock Kate for failing to carve out her own career
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The Duchess of Cambridge has been portrayed as a gold-digger in a promotional video made by Chinese tourism executives.
In the bizarre advertisement - which was made by Chengdu city officials publicising a range of 'panda cabs' - lookalikes playing Kate, Prince William and the Queen are seen standing outside a palace trying to hail a taxi.
The 'Queen' is shown shouting 'taxi' - and whistling to get a driver's attention - before telling her 'grandson' and his wife they should save money by opting for a cab to get to the Jubilee celebrations.
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Bizarre: The promotional video shows the royal trio standing in the rain outside a palace trying to hail a taxi to the Jubilee celebrations
Lookalikes: The Queen, Prince William and Kate are shown discussing how they should be saving money
In the video, 'Kate' - played by lookalike Colette Mularkey - moans: 'I just don't understand why we cannot take the royal limo. I didn't marry into royalty to schlep around in a taxi.'
Lookalike Simon Watkinson replies: 'But darling, granny is right. The commoners want to see us tightening our belts and all that.'
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Share'Kate' then retorts: 'Rubbish, people want to see that they can be like us if they just work hard'.
Her comments then prompt a cutting response from the 'Queen' - played by Amanda Bellamy - who quips: 'Like you did?'
Scathing: Kate's lack of career is mocked in the promotional video
Keeping the peace: 'William' is seen defending his wife when she is mocked by the Queen
Cutting: When 'Kate' talks about people working hard to achieve success, the Queen quips: 'Like you did?'
Leaping to his 'wife's' defence, William says: 'Now, now granny, we all know that it was I who fell for Kate.'
The Duchess then replies: 'That’s right, I didn’t even fancy him at first. Don’t you remember? You had to practically beg me for my phone number.'
The advert appears to poke fun at the fact that Kate did not have a full-time job while she and William were dating, something she attracted criticism for.
She worked at the high street retailing chain Jigsaw for less than a year before leaving to join her family's mail order business, Party Pieces, on just three days a week.
The bizarre video ends with the trio arriving at a Jubilee celebration in a black taxi 'panda cab' and posing for pictures with 'commoners'
Quite what relevance Britain's Royal Family has to boosting tourism in the Chinese city of Chengdu is anyone's guess.
Filmed in Greenwich, in south east London, the two-minute advertisement was made for the Chengdu Association for Cultural Exchange with Foreign Countries and promotes a fleet of 50 'panda cabs', which are London black-taxis with pictures of the bears painted on to them.
The association hopes the panda cabs will help boost tourism in Chengdu, an area which attracts almost 100,000 visitors each year to its world-renowned breeding and research base for giant pandas.
The advert, which is running on social networking sites, was described as a bit of 'harmless fun' by a spokesman for the Chengdu Association, the Express reported.
Controversial: The video, promoting a range of 'panda cabs' in London shows William and Kate (pictured) hailing a taxi with the Queen
The real deal: The Queen, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge standing together on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Jubilee celebrations
However, it attracted swift online criticism from Britons who saw it.
According to the Express, Janet Steele wrote: 'I think this is disgraceful, where is the harmless fun in mocking such lovely people?'
While Keith Harrison added: 'Hmm, the same nation that believes dried, ground tiger penis to be a medicine has the right to ridicule our monarchy?
'Only WE are allowed to ridicule our monarchy! And the Queen deserves more respect than this!'
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