'I worked with Princess Beatrice and this is what she is really like behind the scenes'

Even though Princess Beatrice is not a working member of the Royal Family, she is often heralded as a credit to the Firm for using her platform to benefit others. Much like Princess Eugenie supports spinal injury organisations, Beatrice regularly supportsdyslexia charities.

As a cause that is hugely close to her heart, the Princess has spoken often about how dyslexia has impacted her throughout her life, even describing it as a "gift." As the Princess marks her 37th birthday today, one heart-warming story about the support she has shown for the Helen Arkell Dyslexia charity has emerged-and it tells you everything you need to know.

Speaking exclusively to the Express, the charity's former CEO, Andy Cook, recalled a particularly special moment from one of his meetings with the Princess.

"She became our patron in 2013, which for us was brilliant. Largely because she was so, so high profile, but also because she felt her dyslexia so strongly that she knows so much about it and she knew about us already as a charity," Andy told us.

"She'd received a bit of help for her dyslexia so she wasn't just here as a figurehead, she really wanted to get involved and stuck in.

"A prime example was when she came down and visited our centre in 2019. Our founder, Helen Arkell, was 99 years old at the time and we were unsure if Helen would be well enough to come down from her nearby bungalow to come and join in with that and see Princess Beatrice.

"As it turned out, she wasn't well enough to join us. So after doing a visit to our centre, where she was absolutely brilliant, talking to a whole load of dyslexic children that we've got in. Princess Beatrice said 'Right, well, let's pop up to Helen's bungalow, if she can't come to us, we'll go there'."

Speaking further about the off-the-cuff moment, Andy added: "She had a present for her and she'd brought a cake, so I jumped in the back of the car with Princess Beatrice and her security person and we went to Helen's home. We sat there and thankfully Helen was well enough to have got out of bed and sit in a chair with her shawl over her, and had a cup of tea and a piece of cake with a Princess in completely just a normal old person's bungalow."

Speaking of the Princess' mission to do all she can to champion the work and achievements of dyslexia charities, Andy praised the Princess, saying: "She's really on a mission to inspire people to see that dyslexia can be positive. It might not always feel like that, but it can be when you get the help that you can get.

"She helped us with putting out appeals during Covid to say we're still open and when we were needing funds, when we couldn't run any fundraising events, she put out a piece to camera for us to use asking for donations.

"There's just loads that she does for us, and we always feel that she's got time for us. We always feel that we can contact her team and see if there's something that she might be able to and, from our point of view, it feels like she wears her heart on her sleeve and really throws herself into being a patron of the charity - which is amazing."

Having been identified as dyslexic at the age of seven, the Princess admitted to feeling "a little muddled" and like she was "the odd one out" when she was at school.

Speaking back in 2021, Beatrice said: "If by sharing my story I can help one young person, whether they're 11 or seven just receiving the news that they've got the gift of dyslexia, then I think you've got such a fantastic opportunity to share some of these great learnings.

"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.

"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."