Body doubles generally help in confusing the people or the enemy about the movements of the celebrities.
Political leaders and famous personalities have for years been using a body double. It is largely to mitigate the risk that they face in public life. There are several instances of assassination of politicians across the world. In India too we have seen Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by fanatics.
Body doubles generally help in confusing the people or the enemy about the movements of the celebrities. Selected Individuals for the job have a strong physical resemblance to the person being impersonated. Their looks can rather be matched more strongly by performing plastic surgery.
The body doubles are also trained to speak and behave like the person he has to impersonate.
Political decoys are completely different from celebrity lookalikes. The decoy must conceal his identity in all possible manner while the lookalike presents an acknowledged artifice.
Here are some politicians who have used a body double and ignited conspiracy theories.
1. Daredevil Putin
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Many people across the world believe that the Russian President Vladimir Putin travels with a political decoy. However, Putin has dismissed the theories of using body doubles for security purpose.
The Chechnya conflict was a time when the Russsian government was thinking of using a political decoy for the president but Putin refused.
2. Mysterious Kim Jong-un
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The North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un has always been in the news for threatening the world of having a nuclear arsenal. He again was in the news when bizarre footage resurfaced in which he was seen chin-wagging with what appeared to be his body doubles.
The dictator was filmed chatting with two suspected lookalikes - dressed identically in his trademark black pinstripe suit and Cuban heels.
It is assumed that the North Korean dictator often travels with lookalikes
3. Poised Queen Elizabeth
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The Queen takes part in hundreds of engagements every year of which many have been televised. Most of the engagements are rehearsed and televised which makes it difficult for the queen to stand for hours and therefore she has been using a body double. Ella Slack from the Isle of Man has spent 30 years being a stand-in for the Queen during rehearsals for televised royal engagements.
4. Architecht of modern Russia Joseph Stalin
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If you turn the pages of Russia's secret history, you will find stories about Joseph Stalin's body doubles. The USSR leader was infamous for his mastery of propaganda but more concerned about being assassinated by "capitalists".
One body double, known only as Rashid, was recruited by a KGB agent to attend meetings as Joseph Stalin. But, very little is known about another of Stalin's supposed doubles, Felix Dadaev.
5. Dictator Saddam Hussein
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Several public appearances of Saddam Hussein revealed that the late Iraqi dictator had used at least three men as body doubles. Some believe that Hussein’s oldest son, Uday Hussein, also used a body double.
6. FLOTUS Melania Trump
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A photo of US First Lady Melania Trump looking relaxed and smiling on board Marine One has raised speculations of Donald Trump campaigning alongside his wife’s body double. Since 2017 speculations have been rife that White House uses an impersonator in place of the real Melania Trump. A picture of the US presidential couple taken on Sunday ignited the conspiracy theory even further.
