Learning differently and knowing it can change your life; just ask Princess Beatrice. She remembered her school days, her first encounter with learning, with reading, with spelling and it was hard.

Princess Beatrice was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was seven years old. Supported by the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, the Princess developed a ‘toolkit’ of skills which she had learned, and which she has continued to use over the years. In her foreword to Helen Arkell’s Anyone Can Spell It book, she states that ‘without HADC’s support my life could have been very different.’

She has revealed that while she was in school, a lot of her best friends were dyslexic as well, and they would study together, at their own pace. She also spoke about how reading the Harry Potter books helped her overcome her difficulties. ‘The second story came out, I couldn’t put it down. Now I read so much quicker, so much better and I studied history at university which involved a lot of reading.’

It was a great honour for the charity when the Princess agreed to be our Royal Patron. She says,

‘Dyslexia is not a pigeonhole to say you can’t do anything. It is an opportunity and a possibility to learn differently. Dyslexics have magical brains, they just process differently. Don’t feel like you should be held back by it.’

We are very proud of our Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness, Princess Beatrice.

See our interview of Bernadette McLean, (Principal of Helen Arkell 2006-2017), chatting with Princess Beatrice.

HRH Princess Beatrice on her dyslexia:

‘Dyslexia is a badge of honour.’

‘Being diagnosed with dyslexia is the greatest thing that ever happened to me.’

‘Together we can make a huge difference in the world.’