16 January 2024 , 23:00
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Kate Middleton was so badly bullied for being "perfect" she had to change school, say former classmates.
The Prince of Wales's wife is known for having excelled at school both academically and in team sports. But it appears that her ability led to others picking on her and being "horrible". During her time at secondary school, the royal was forced to move from her £28,000 per year all girls boarding school, Downe House, halfway through term as she was being so "badly bullied" her former schoolmates have claimed.
They said that Prince William's wife was being teased because she was "perfect, well turned out and a lovely person." So her family moved her to Marlborough College. Her bullies allegedly called her names and stole from her while kids would also leave her on her own during lunch and without friends.
While she is now seen for having a strong and confident personality, the affects of this treatment apparently left her "thin and pale". But the headmistress of the school at the time said she was unaware of any serious bullying, it is reported. The 41-year-old royal used to live at home instead of boarding as her parent's house was nearby and this is said to have left her unable to properly connect with the other girls who stayed there, reported the Express.
She told the News of the World in 2010: "She hated it, absolutely hated it. Some of the girls there were horrible. She was picked on because she was perfect - well turned out and a lovely person. She was not the type to stick up for herself.
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Bullies allegedly called the Princess of Wales names and stole from her (PA)"She said that there was a group of girls that called her names and they stole her books and stuff – little things like that. They rounded up on her a bit because she was quite a soft and nice person… When she used to go to lunch she would sit down with people and they all used to get up and sit on another table."
It was another one of Kate's school pals, Gemma Williamson, who said the princess looked "pale and thin" when she first got to the school. She told the Daily Mail: "Apparently she had been bullied very badly and she certainly looked thin and pale. She had very little confidence."
But Downe House's former headmistress Susan Cameron has denied any knowledge of serious bullying going on while Kate attended the school. Speaking to Katie Nicholls for her book Kate: The Future Queen, she firmly said: "Certainly I have no knowledge of any serious bullying at all. But there's what everyone calls bullying, and there's actual, real, miserable bullying where someone had a dreadful time. That certainly didn't happen".