Katie Price says her children are her top priority… but I’ve seen the truth first hand. This is what really goes on behind the scenes – and exactly why she’s feuding with Princess and Peter Andre: KATIE HIND

It was a constant theme in my conversations with those close to Katie Price when writing about the glamour model’s split from Peter Andre back in 2009. ‘Katie wants the best for her children, that’s all she cares about,’ was her publicist’s constant refrain.

If we believed all of Team Katie’s briefings since Peter dumped her after four years of marriage, she’d have been Mum of the Year ten times over.

But now, her followers are finally seeing what I suspected all along: that she wasn’t as selfless as she made out when it came to Princess, now 18, and her older brother Junior, 20.

I met Katie several times following her split from Mysterious Girl singer Peter, whom she met on I’m A Celebrity in 2004 and married a year later after a whirlwind romance. She always talked about herself and the kids – insisting that they were all that mattered to her.

‘When I was with Pete I was more concerned with making sure our marriage worked. But now I am focusing on me, my children and my career,’ she told me when I met her at the release of her novel Sapphire at Selfridges in London after their split.

In a conversation weeks later, she added: ‘I just want Pete to stop bringing our children into the divorce – that’s between me and him.

‘It’s like he is trying to manipulate the situation to make me look bad all of the time.’

Unfortunately for Katie, actions speak louder than words. As I reported on what, at the time, was the biggest split in showbusiness, I had a ringside seat to the ugly saga – which is now firmly back in the headlines.

The feud exploded last Thursday when Katie urged Peter to take part in ‘peace talks’ – claiming she had been ‘banned’ from appearing in Princess’s new reality series The Princess Diaries – and that her daughter had been ‘unfairly’ dragged into a family feud.

Hours later, Peter, 52, shared his side of the story, explaining: ‘For 16 years, I have stayed silent in the face of repeated lies from my ex-wife and her family, out of respect for my children and loved ones. But staying silent has been incredibly frustrating. That ends today.

‘For well-documented reasons, and for their safety, Junior and Princess came into my care in 2018 and remained with me until they reached adulthood.

‘In 2019, the family courts issued a legally binding order to enforce this arrangement. I have never made this public before, out of respect for my children.

‘Unfortunately there are many more lies and baseless accusations I have yet to address. Those will now be dealt with in the coming months.’

I have several recollections of my own of Katie and Peter’s bitter split.

I watched as newly single Katie almost immediately began dating cage fighter Alex Reid – who she went on to marry in an intimate ceremony in Las Vegas – and with whom she jetted off for a romantic break to Marbella soon after the break-up with Peter, without her kids in tow. It struck me as odd, considering her claims that the children were her top priority.

Katie, never knowingly publicity-shy, was furious that I was on board the same easyJet flight to Marbella to cover the story – and screamed at me for being there.

As she and Alex enjoyed the sun, sea and lots of PDA, Junior and Princess – then just four and two – were at home with their dad.

Perhaps it was a moment of respite for them since, according to insiders, Katie frequently ruined the familial calm by constantly complaining about Peter’s behaviour.

In September 2009, Katie was furious with Peter after he left Junior and Princess with his manager, Claire, while he went out to plug his latest album when his nanny called in sick.

A source said: ‘As far as Katie was concerned the children were in Peter’s care, so when she found out he was away she went mad. There really was no need. It was okay for Katie to go off on holiday with Alex.’

My source added that Katie had fallen out with Claire over the divorce: ‘They’re sworn enemies so Katie didn’t want them left with her. It was her causing trouble and bringing aggravation for the sake of it.’

At the same time, Katie confided in me that Peter was angry with her because she had introduced their children to her new boyfriend Alex Reid.

‘Pete dares to have a pop at me for them meeting Alex,’ groaned Katie. ‘None of this is fair, he is turning everyone against me. I seem to be the bad one in all of this but he walked out, he ended this marriage. I am tough but there’s only so much I can take – and I’ve had enough.’

Katie’s PR defended her by saying: ‘She would not allow anyone into her family home if she felt it would be bad for the children in any shape or form.’

Despite the easyJet incident, I was rather fond of Katie at the time. But it is now clear that I should have listened to what one insider warned me back then: ‘Don’t believe Katie when she goes on about the kids, they are being used as pawns.’

The next flashpoint came when Katie banned Peter from using her disabled son Harvey (whose father is ex-Manchester United footballer Dwight Yorke) in his solo documentary. Peter, who has always treated Harvey as his own son, was devastated after Katie ordered her lawyers to stop shots of the then seven-year-old featuring in the fly-on-the-wall show Peter Andre: My Life.

She said she wanted to avoid putting him in front of cameras when he was not in her control. But around the same time, Katie featured Harvey at his seventh birthday party in ITV2 adverts publicising her own show, What Katie Did Next.

A source close to Peter told me: ‘He wanted Harvey to appear in the show. They spend a lot of time together so it doesn’t seem right that he isn’t in the show with the other children. It was like Katie did it for the sake of it. Like she used Harvey to get at Pete.’

But perhaps the most heartbreaking incident of all came when Katie called in celebrity lawyer Fiona Shackleton (also Sir Paul McCartney’s divorce solicitor) to stop Peter flying Princess and Junior to Australia for a two-week Christmas break back in 2009.

Katie was livid after her ex revealed he wanted to take their children to spend the entire festive season with his mother Thea and father Savvas, who was too ill to fly to England.

Peter was sent a legal letter explaining he would be breaching custody arrangements agreed after the divorce. A source tells me: ‘It was so cruel of Katie. She went on about wanting the best for her kids – but did she?’

A friend of Peter’s said: ‘There is no way Katie was always doing what was best for those children. Yet she pretended she was the one always in the right. Finally, the truth is coming out – and she isn’t going to like it one bit.’