Princess Beatrice has a goal to achieve. The Queen’s granddaughter, who was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven, is determined to alter the public perception of dyslexia, which she fondly refers to as her “gift” and “learning difference”

The princess said that she never felt “less than” as she grew up, and that she made progress by focusing on what she “could do” rather than what she “couldn’t.”

With her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, the Queen’s granddaughter, 33, is expecting her first child in the autumn.

For a special Back to School digital issue of Hello! magazine, Beatrice spoke with podcaster Giovanna Fletcher via video conference. Beatrice talked about being diagnosed with dyslexia when she was seven years old, which she regarded as a “gift” that any of her children would be “lucky” to have. The Princess told Giovanna, “I really see it as a gift.” “And I think life is about the moments, it’s the challenges that make you.” She added, however, “Of course, I would never want there to be any difficult situations.”

The princess reflected on her own experience navigating school with a learning disability, saying that it “has been the making of some of my best decision making.”

Beatrice described her five-year-old stepson as a “bonus son,” saying, “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. I think it’s really important for every parent, that they feel they are not alone in this. 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.”

Beatrice is the patron of the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, which she first visited when she was a child and which helped her succeed in school.

Dyslexia is a “common learning difficulty” that can create difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling, according to the NHS. The IQ of a person is unaffected by the learning impairment. Dyslexia affects up to one out of every ten persons in the United Kingdom.

Further expressing her positivity, the princess said how her dyslexia has helped her to perceive things in a new light.

“As an older person looking back, it definitely has allowed me to look at things in a new way and come up with solutions,” she explained. “I always describe it like being able to think in a circle.”

However, the princess also said that she doesn’t like every element of parenting. Beatrice, like many other parents and caregivers throughout the world, recalled the difficulties of homeschooling during a pandemic, delicately referring to the experience as a “learning curve.” “Homeschooling, that was definitely not my forte! Not going to lie. Sadly, I can’t blame that on dyslexia,” Beatrice said. “But I’ve felt very lucky to have had the chance to work with my bonus son (Wolfie) over the course of the school closures. It was a huge learning curve for all of us.”