One of the royal cousins is to go to the Big Apple soon. The purpose? Go onstage and get undressed.
What Katrina Darling, 21, model, burlesque dancer and bank employee, hadn’t known until a while ago was that she is second cousin, once removed, to Pippa Middleton – and to the Duchess of Cambridge. The fact was brought to her attention only with Kate Middleton and Prince William’s engagement in late fall 2010. Katrina Darling’s grandmother Jane Darling was sister to Thomas Harrison, great-grandfather of the Middleton sisters; the two branches stayed out of touch, and Katrina hasn’t run into Kate.
Darling brings over to the US her burlesque strip stage act which includes a part called “God Save the Queen Routine.” The American debut is scheduled for March 13 to be shown at W.I.P.’s “Dropout” party in SoHo, Manhattan. Page Six reports that she wasn’t going to be shy about her first N.Y. performance.
Darling told the reporters that she expects to find New York more pushing than London with its love for traditional burlesque stuff. She also warned that she will bare herself, but other favors should not be sought after.
At Barclays, where Darling has got a job, her colleagues know of her side engagements and are quite supportive. The English never mind throwing a laugh about themselves, says the dancer. Neither did she receive any objections to her risqué show from the royal family.
“They are flying her out [to the US],” Us Weekly was informed by a source, and since Darling had been into burlesque strip shows way before she knew about the family ties, “she doesn’t care” about being a cousin to one of the Greats.
