Bond writer: My guilt at being a school bully
I did it after being picked on by prep kids, says Horowitz (of anti-bullying charity)
TOP author and child protection campaigner Anthony Horowitz has revealed he was a bully at school.
The creator of TV hit Foyle’s War and writer of James Bond novels is now patron of an anti-bullying charity.
He said he was picked on so much at his private school he became a bully himself.
He admitted he is now filled ‘with all sorts of regret’ when he reflects on his days at Orley Farm preparatory school in Harrow, north London.
The author, 65, who also attended Rugby private school as a teenager, has previously spoken about his miserable time as a pupil when he was mercilessly picked on for his weight and called cruel names.
But he has now said his biggest regret is joining in with the ‘pack mentality’ as it was the ‘easiest way to escape’ being tormented himself. He said: ‘I was not a clever child and I don’t want you to get the impression that I was a misjudged child or a particularly lovely child - I wasn’t.
‘I was actually quite spoilt. My parents were very wealthy and I look back on my school days with all sorts of regret, some of which are to do with my behaviour - joining in the pack mentality and all the rest of it.
‘One of the reasons I did that was, I remember, that in order to avoid being bullied I became a bully – it’s the easiest way to escape that. If you’re not going to be the prey, become the predator. I have regrets about that now.’ Horowitz, who now works with child protection charity Kidscape, told the How I Found My Voice podcast that he used to starve himself during school holidays in an attempt to lose weight so he would not be teased back in class.
He said: ‘I remember going on a diet for the last five days of a holiday – isn’t that pathetic?
‘You gorge yourself for weeks and then five days before you go back to school suddenly “I don’t want to eat anything because I know I’m going to get teased for my weight”.’
Horowitz, who is married to TV and film producer Jill Green, is also known for his Alex Rider books, which spawned the 2006 film Stormbreaker.
His two Bond novels include 2015’s Trigger Mortis. He was chosen to write them by administrators of the estate of original 007 author Ian Fleming.
He has also written two Sherlock Holmes novels.