Princess Beatrice of York (Wikipedia)

“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… just shifting the narrative a little bit towards something that is positive, something that is impactful, can really help everyone.”

– Princess Beatrice

 

Princess Beatrice is expecting her first child and she spoke about how she sees dyslexia as a gift.

From an interview with Giovanna Fletcher:

“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. 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…

I remember feeling really confused – an overwhelming sense of, ‘Why does this all feel a little bit muddled? Why do I feel like these words on the page are just a bunch of… What is going on here? What am I expected to do with 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. And I think life is about the moments, it’s the challenges that make you…

…having dyslexia and reflecting on where I am right now in my career path, and also as an older person looking back, it definitely has allowed me to look at things in a new way and come up with solutions.”

A short excerpt from Princess Beatrice’s interview:

 

 

Princess Beatrice has shared that she had moments where she thought, ‘I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, why am I not like the others?’,” but those moments were ultimately helpful later. Now she reflects, “… if I could say to my younger self… ‘Do not be defined by those moments that happen to you in that exam or that classroom, because they are lifelong learnings and they build you up to be who you are’.”

Prior to the pandemic, the princess had been working for a software company in communications and strategic partnerships. The position, she said at the time, played to her strengths because it allowed her to focus on her communication skills rather than “sitting behind a desk.”

 

 

 

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