The UK Embassy in Sweden spent £7,000 ($8,500) last summer to hire celebrity lookalikes for a party to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee, The Times reported Monday.

The lookalikes included singers Baby Spice and David Bowie, as well as former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The actor impersonating Mr Johnson was caged and dressed in a straitjacket and a muzzle, resembling Hannibal Lecter character from The Silence of the Lambs movie, the newspaper reported with a photo.

About 60 people reportedly attended the party last June at the residence of UK Ambassador to Sweden Judith Gough, who previously served as the UK’s ambassador to Ukraine, the newspaper reported.

At the same time, the British Foreign Office denied there was any actor portraying Mr Johnson at the party in Stockholm, as cited in the report.

Reports about an embassy party with celebrity impersonators sparked a flurry of criticism in the UK, with the Labour Party, decrying the event as “a grotesque waste of taxpayers’ money,” according to the report.

Elizabeth II became queen on February 6, 1952 at the age of 25 years. In June, she celebrated 70 years on the throne, becoming the first UK monarch to celebrate the platinum anniversary of the reign. The queen passed away in September 2022 at the age of 96.

Her eldest son, Charles, became the new king of the UK immediately after her death.

In July, Mr Johnson, the UK prime minister at the time, announced his intention to step down after accusations of violating coronavirus regulations, and sexual assault.

Liz Truss, elected in September to replace Johnson, spent only 44 days in office. In late October, UK King Charles III appointed Rishi Sunak as the new prime minister. 

(Sputnik/NAN)