Former star of The Apprentice and well-known Welsh entrepreneur Alex Mills has got into the jubilee spirit and adorned his home and gardens with masses of bunting, union flags — and life-size cut-outs of the Queen! The self-confessed Royalist wanted to do something special to mark the historic platinum jubilee and put a smile on the face of people in his local community.
He told WalesOnline that one of his first jobs, when he was 19, was making Royal plaques - the kind that are placed on the walls of new buildings or local landmarks after they've been officially opened by the Queen or another member of the Royal family. With this in mind, Alex wanted to bring the Queen to his home in Wenvoe, outside Cardiff, however he could - so he ordered life-size cut-outs from Amazon and has placed them around his garden so Her Majesty can enjoy the Welsh sunshine this weekend!
"I've decorated — more like over-decorated — the house because it's the Queen's Jubilee," he said. "I'm a proud supporter of the Queen. Years ago, I used to make plaques for the Queen. When I was 19, I made plaques that would be used when the Queen opened events and buildings. I've been a Royalist for quite some time."
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After joking to wife Emma that he should decorate their home for the Queen's jubilee, Emma told him 'Don't go too far!' — which only spurred Alex on to make their home as jubilee-esque as possible.
"Emma told me 'don't go too far' but I saw that as a challenge," Alex joked. "We've got [a cut out of] Her Majesty in one of the Rolls Royces, with a police officer [cut-out] guarding her. We've got another cut-out of the Queen on the grass, but instead of her corgis she's with our sausage dogs, Benji and Elton. And we thought we'd bring back Prince Philip, so he and Her Majesty can enjoy our beautiful gardens on this jubilee weekend. We just wanted to add a bit of fun and sparkle [to the jubilee weekend] and bring Her Majesty The Queen to Wenvoe!"
Alex and Emma's home is also decorated with union flags and red, white and blue bunting and there's cut-outs of Palace Guards on the gate at the bottom of their driveway. They've even put a paper sign on their rubbish skip, located in the garden while they have work done on their property, with the comment "Prince Andrew's tat".
"If people are out and about in Wenvoe, they're more than welcome to have a look and take photos," Alex added. "We're probably going to keep things up for a week, but may keep the flagpole up for longer."
Alex, now 31, rose to fame as a candidate on the ninth series of BBC's The Apprentice in 2013. He made it to the final seven candidates after showing his business acumen and enthusiasm and then went on to launch an insurance company Dynamo Cover in 2017, generating £30,000 of turnover in the first month alone.
After 12 weeks, Alex bought his first supercar and his business has gone from strength to strength over the last five years. It now employs more than 30 people and last year Alex made the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List - not bad for a man who previously told us he never really fitted in at school and felt forced to work night-shifts so people didn't see him as a failure. You can read about how he grew his business and his career in a previous interview with him here
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