LOS ANGELES — A royal relative is appearing nude in the September issue of Playboy magazine.
Burlesque performer Katrina Darling, a second cousin to Kate Middleton — the U.K.'s Duchess of Cambridge — is a stripper who graces the cover of the magazine along with an eight-page pictorial.
Darling and Middleton are reportedly second cousins, once removed, with Darling’s grandmother being sister to the duchess’s great grandfather, Thomas Harrison.
The royal cousin's revealing “God Save the Queen” act plays in the U.S. and Europe, in addition to the U.K. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner said Darling was paid six-figures for the photo shoot after her blue blood lineage was made public.
“The magazine always looks for relevant pop culture figures, we look for beautiful women that are relevant in pop culture. Darling is beautiful, she has been in the news. She is someone I think our readers would be interested in seeing,” Theresa Hennessey, vice president of public relations for Playboy Enterprises said.
Darling said in the magazine interview, “burlesque is a platform for me to explore these kinds of things. The more into it the audience is, the more into it I am.”
But burlesque isn't Darling's only interest. The performer's day job is working at Barclay’s Bank in the private wealth management division where she said her co-workers treat her moonlighting with amusement.
Although the entertainer never met her cousin, some speculated that her “God Save the Queen” act was created to cash in on the royal relationship. But Darling told the Daily Mail that she’s been a stripper for years and it’s all a coincidence.
”It was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. It’s not every day something like that happens.”
The September issue of Playboy hits newsstands Aug. 17.
