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Princess Beatrice is Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s oldest daughter. Like many royals, she grew up attending prestigious schools in the United Kingdom. Beatrice seems to still remember her days as a student, and she recently revealed a school-related nightmare she still has.

Princess Beatrice speaking into microphone in front of gray background
Princess Beatrice | Brad Barket/Getty Images for Kairos Society

Princess Beatrice recently opened up about having dyslexia

In 2005, Beatrice went public with her dyslexia diagnosis. She has since been an advocate for people with dyslexia and is even a royal patron for the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre.

Beatrice recently had an interview with Hello! to talk about her journey with dyslexia. The princess shared that she wants to “change the narrative” surrounding this learning disorder.

“I was very lucky that when I was first told that I had dyslexia, not one person around me ever made me feel like it was a ‘lesser than’ scenario,” she said. “It was always about moving forward, it was always about what you could do. Never about what you can’t. And that’s something that’s really, really important to me. I find it very inspiring every day to talk about it. Because if you can just change one little idea in someone’s head, then you’ve done a great thing.”

Now that it is August, many families are preparing for their children to go back to school. For Beatrice, “back to school” season sometimes conjures up a nightmare she still has.

“For me, I loved school. I hated writing essays, I hated spelling, but I loved the environment,” Beatrice admitted. “I think I was very lucky that school gave me such a positive environment. But I still have those dreams where you wake up in the middle of the night going, ‘Which homework have I not done?!’”

Nonetheless, Beatrice understands that, because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, things will be “interesting” for students going back to the classroom after a year of online learning.

Princess Beatrice talks about potential challenges of dyslexia on her growing family

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Beatrice is also expecting her first child with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Because dyslexia can be inherited, Beatrice has put thoughts into how she could support children with dyslexia in her own family.

“I was thinking about this as well, that if any child, any bonus son, or future babies that are on their way, are lucky enough to be diagnosed with dyslexia, I feel incredibly grateful to have tools such as the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity to be able to tap into, to give them that extra support,” she shared. “I think it’s really important for every parent, that they feel they are not alone in this.”

Beatrice added, “My husband’s also dyslexic so we’ll see whether we’re having this conversation in a couple of months’ time with a new baby in the house, but I really see it as a gift. And I think life is about the moments, it’s the challenges that make you.”

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