Fergie: my Bea is dyslexic

Princess Beatrice wants the public to know she has suffered from dyslexia since the age of seven, her mother revealed yesterday.

The 16-year-old takes extra classes to help her with reading and writing and will have to do so for the foreseeable future, the Duchess of York said.

"She loves history - coming from Queen Victoria and her family, she wanted to learn about it but couldn't because she couldn't read," she added.

"She is such a kind person, she didn't get frustrated. I would have."

The Duchess said Beatrice, who is due to sit GCSEs this summer, wanted the public to know about her disorder. "She said 'Please tell everybody because it's important'," she added.

The Duchess spoke during a visit to the school of murdered ten-year-old Damilola Taylor in Peckham, South London. She is patron of a charity, Springboard For Children, which helps pupils at the school overcome literacy problems. She said: "If you don't teach children to read and write, you condemn them to seclusion, unemployment and crime. If I didn't realise Beatrice was dyslexic, she'd have such a problem."

The Duchess revealed she thought she was a 'little bit' dyslexic herself, saying: "I had a problem at school; it took me ages to read but I think I am fine now."

When asked which word she most struggled with, she said: 'It's something like 'psychological'. It's a bit long. I don't know if 'psy' is spelt 'si'. I don't understand why there's a 'p'."