Princess Beatrice is using her platform to talk about something very personal to her: dyslexia.
The royal, who learned she was dyslexic at age 7, recently spoke with podcaster Giovanna Fletcher about why she doesn’t like to call her dyslexia a diagnosis, what she’ll do if one of her children has dyslexia, and what it’s been like home-schooling her “bonus son” in a candid interview for Hello magazine.
“Honestly, what inspired me to talk about dyslexia the way that I have, is because I really want to change the narrative around the diagnosis,” Beatrice said in the interview, published Monday.
“Even referring to it as a diagnosis I feel does a disservice to the brilliance of some of the most fantastic minds that we have. And I think just shifting the narrative a little bit towards something that is positive, that is impactful, I think can really help everyone,” she added.
The royal, who is patron of the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, spoke about the possibility of her current “bonus son” or future children dealing with dyslexia, as husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi also has the language-based learning disability.
The two are expecting their first child together in the fall, though Mozzi also has a young son, Christopher ― known as “Wolfie” ― from a previous relationship with ex-fiancée Dara Huang.
“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,” Beatrice said. “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,” she added. “And I think life is about the moments, it’s the challenges that make you. Of course, I would never want there to be any difficult situations.”
In regard to difficult situations, Beatrice admitted that home schooling “was definitely not my forte!”
“Sadly, I can’t blame that on dyslexia,” she 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.”
Beatrice has opened up about home-schooling her “bonus son” before and told the Evening Standard in March that it was a “great honour to become a stepmother.”
The princess said she’s enjoyed helping Wolfie “to engage with stories” and has “had the most remarkable time going back over some of my most favourite stories at bedtime.”
Beatrice and Mozzi were married on July 17, 2020, in a surprise ceremony at All Saints Chapel in Windsor, after canceling their original wedding date and celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic. The two announced in May 2021 that they were expecting their first child.
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