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Kate Middleton’s Burlesque Dancer Cousin Congratulates Her on First Pregnancy

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Kate Middleton on September 18, 2012 in Honiara, Guadalcanal Island.

Kate Middleton's family is overjoyed that the royal and her husband Prince William are expecting their first child — just ask Middleton's cousin, Katrina Darling.

The Burlesque dancer shared her well wishes for the couple with Us Weekly on Dec. 4. "I was so pleased to hear the good news and wish mother and baby every health and happiness," Playboy's September 2012 cover girl said of her expecting relative.

Related: PHOTOS: Kate Middleton's childhood album

Darling and the Duchess of Cambridge, 30, have never met, and are connected through Katrina's grandmother, Jane Darling, who is the sister of Middleton's great-grandfather, Thomas Harrison. Katrina Darling still keeps a banking job at Barclays in London, and didn't discover her royal relation until Kate and Prince William got engaged in November 2010. (The couple married in a lavish televised ceremony in April 2011.)

Related: PHOTOS: Royal pregnancies

Announcing her pregnancy Monday, Dec. 3 via a statement from St. James's Palace, mom-to-be Middleton is currently receiving medical care at London's King Edward VII hospital for complications from hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute form of morning sickness. Her husband, also 30, has been a constant presence at her bedside since her Monday admission. She is expected to remain hospitalized for a few days while she recovers.

Related: PHOTOS: Prince William visits his pregnant wife in the hospital

"Kate will let her children have fun and freedom, but she will also make sure they do what is best for them," a longtime pal predicts of the pregnant royal. "She will be a firm but fair mother."

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