Kate Middleton was left with ‘very little confidence’ after childhood bullies ‘picked on her’ for ‘being perfect’

An old school friend of Kate Middleton's has revealed how the Princess was left with ‘very little confidence’ as school bullies ‘picked on her’ and she failed to 'stick up for herself.'

• Kate Middleton was reportedly 'bullied' at boarding school and 'was picked on because she was perfect.'
• The ordeal left the Princess with 'very little confidence' with her friend saying that Kate was 'not the type to stick up for herself.' 
• In other royal news, Kate Middleton is skipping this important royal engagement and all parents will understand why.

With back-to-school season well and truly underway, as parents try to keep those new school shoes looking fresh and the school uniforms neatly ironed (though you can save time with this brilliant hack to avoid ironing school uniforms,) there are some understandable worries that accompany this time. 

From dealing with the 'Sunday Scaries' to figuring out the best way to help little ones settle into new classes, there's lots to deal with when it comes to term-time. But perhaps the biggest worry concerns bullying. While there are lots of books on bullying to help both children and parents recognise and handle the issue, there are so many different types of bullying to look out for, including cyberbullying, that it can be difficult to pin-point what is happening to kids while they're at school. 

You're not alone in the struggle. Even the Royal Family have experienced bullying at school, including King Charles who suffered in silence as childhood bullies broke his nose. Even the confident Kate Middleton, who does this ‘crazy’ hobby in the ‘dark’, has experienced the horrifying ordeal of childhood bulling and one of her old school friends has said it left the Princess with 'very little confidence.'

Speaking to the News of the World back in 2010, Kate's former school friend Jessica Hay, who she met at Marlborough College after leaving the all-girls boarding school Downe House, revealed that the Princess 'hated' her time at the boarding school and was 'picked on because she was perfect' despite being a 'lovely' person. 

She said, "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.

"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."

Another friend of Kate's from Marlborough College, Gemma Williamson, also spoke about what Kate was like when she joined the new school at 14 and claimed that the impact of the bullying was visually apparent in Kate's appearance.

She told the Daily Mail, "Apparently she had been bullied very badly and she certainly looked thin and pale. She had very little confidence."

However, the former headmistress of Downe House, Susan Cameron, has previously denied that Kate was ever seriously bullied during her time at the school. Speaking to royal author Katie Nicholls for her book Kate: The Future Queen, the headmistress said, "She [Kate] may well have felt like a fish out of water, or unhappily not in the right place.

"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. Yes, there would be teasing. It's all a part of the normal competition of growing up, of establishing a pecking order."

No matter how serious the bulling was, the ordeal has clearly impacted Kate's decisions when it comes to her children's schooling. Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK! Magazine, "The Prince and Princess of Wales have made it clear that their young family will, as far as possible, come first and that includes sending all three to day school, rather than having them as boarders away from home.

"Catherine had a very unhappy time at Downe House in her first two terms and was bullied quite badly before she left and moved to Marlborough College. For the moment at least it seems William and Catherine want to keep their children close, as day pupils at Lambrook, in a happy and nurturing environment."