It may be the ultimate "It Gets Better" story for teens in turmoil. Better than President Obama talking to kids about getting through rough stuff. Better than any of the dozens of stars who have taken to YouTube to tell kids that there's life after high school -- happy life. Because Kate Middleton hasn't just escaped high school.
She's on the verge of becoming a princess after being bullied so mercilessly her parents took her out of school! While everyone and their mother have been working to dig up dirt on Prince William's bride-to-be, it was an Aussie mag that came up with this gem:
Within two terms Kate was cruelly rejected by her peers at Catholic all girls’ school Downe House ... and was thin and pale and had very little confidence.
According to the report, her parents then moved her to another private school, Marlborough College, where the young teen (she was 13 at the time) was subjected to a sexist "ranking" system by the older boys. The new girls would come into school to be rated by the boys on their looks. Using a scale of 1 to 10 -- like the Olympics -- the boys would hold up napkins with a girl's "number" on them. Kate allegedly received only low marks from the cruel boys.
But who's laughing now?
Every time another "detail" of Middleton's life is dredged up by the tabloids, I feel badly for her. She's practically been bullied by the media simply for falling in love with the world's most eligible bachelor. I'm willing to bet at least 90 percent is fake.
But I'm hoping this story is true. Not because I wish bullying on any teenager, but because Hollywood couldn't give our kids a better story. Come on: girl tormented by bullies grows up to become a princess? Don't you see that playing at a theater near you?
But this one's REAL. Kate Middleton is a flesh and blood example of "hey, you never know." Because you really don't.
The gay kid hiding in the closet in high school to protect himself may become a successful advertising executive. The kid who bullied him may spend the rest of his life as a substitute teacher. Unable to get a "real" teaching job, he'll wallow in his sorrows nightly at the corner bar. The ugly duckling may turn out not to be a beautiful swan but a woman who learns to embrace her unique looks and walk around confidently, kicking *ss and taking names in the corporate world. While the guy who called her Pizza Face is stuck serving pizza slices to teenagers for the rest of his natural born life.
But tell your kids that now, and they'll roll their eyes and say, "Uh huh, yeah right, Mom." Put real life examples in front of them, and suddenly the story of "everything turns out OK in the end" becomes something to cling to. If Kate Middleton can go from bullied to princess, it really does get better.
Will you be telling your kids this story tonight?
Image via Getty Images/Chris Jackson/Staff