BEATRICE'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Former royal correspondent Jennie Bond tells OK! how Princess Beatrice will be marking her special day

- AMY JONES

Princess Beatrice has been through some challenging times over the past few years. From her father Prince Andrew’s dramatic fall from grace to her mum Sarah, the Duchess of York’s devastating cancer diagnosis, there have been troubled waters for both her and younger sister Eugenie, 34, to navigate.

However, as Beatrice, who is ninth in line to the throne, prepares to celebrate her 36th birthday on 8 August, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond exclusively reveals to OK! that the princess is in a good place — and has proved once again what an asset she is for our monarchy.

“Beatrice seems to have struck a balance between being a modern working woman who is also a mother and stepmother, and yet still a valued member of the royal family, using her position to help charities and causes close to her heart,” Jennie says.

The princess, who works in partnerships and strategy for software company Afiniti, was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was seven, and has used her profile to raise awareness of the learning difficulty.

“Beatrice has done some immensely important work on dyslexia, talking about it publicly and helping to normalise it,” says Jennie. “She has inherited some of her mother’s very best qualities — relentless positivity, resilience, and a determination to use her position in life to help people who are less fortunate. Beatrice has shown some real backbone and has learned what it’s like to be scrutinised for everything she says, wears and does, with great dignity.”

Indeed, after Beatrice came under fire for her choice of hat at the Prince and Princess of Wales’s 2011 wedding, she savvily turned it into a fundraising opportunity.