Sexy superstar Beyonce Knowles looks like she has it all. But the truth is never that simple.

She may be a modern music, fashion and beauty icon but Queen Bee has faced major trials and tribulations in her life.

Even now, at the peak of her success, rumours swirl about the state of her marriage to music titan Jay Z.

A fascinating book by the former editor of Star magazine and showbiz expert Anna Pointer celebrates the life of this extraordinary woman but also takes a look a the sometimes harsh realty beneath the glittering exterior.

Beyonce: Running The World: The Biography is an eye-opening read and Anna has selected 10 remarkable facts about the real woman behind the myth, exclusively for Express.co.uk.

Scroll down for the 10 shocking facts about Beyoncé



1) SHE WAS TEASED AT SCHOOL

Despite her beauty, Beyoncé was terribly insecure as a child.

Growing up in Houston, she got teased about her ears which she jokes ‘were bigger than my head’, and earned her the nickname Dumbo.

Bey also says she was a ‘chubby kid’, and grew so convinced that other girls would cut off her long hair that she wore her hair in a bun for the first six months of middle school.

2) HER NAME COMES FROM HER MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME

Her name derives from her mum Tina’s maiden name, Beyincé.

Tina wanted to keep the name going when she married husband Mathew Knowles so they named their firstborn Beyoncé.

But the young starlet-in-the-making hated her name and it became yet another reason for kids to pick on her at school.



3) PARENTAL PROBLEMS
The strain of trying to make Beyoncé a singing success proved too much for her parents and they separated when she was just 13 - with Tina saying Mathew was too ‘obsessed’ with their daughter’s career.

The split badly affected the youngster and she turned to her church in Houston, where she was frequently seen crying.

Though Tina and Mathew did eventually reconcile, they broke up for good in 2010 after 31 years of marriage.

4) SHE SUFFERED FROM DEPRESSION

After two of the original members of Destiny’s Child, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson left the band amid a swirl of controversy, it hit Beyoncé very hard.

She struggled to eat and shut herself away in her room, later admitting she suffered depression for two years.

LeToya and LaTavia claimed Beyoncé received special treatment in the group and that Tina Knowles ordered them to have tanning sessions to darken their black skin.

On the counter-attack, Beyoncé questioned their singing skills and even branded LeToya ‘tone deaf.’


5) EARLY DAYS WITH JAY-Z

Beyoncé first got together with Jay-Z after sparks flew on a Vanity Fair shoot in 2001.

But their courtship was very innocent at first and for the first 18 months it was conducted solely over the phone.

The pair were extremely wary of creating a media circus - especially as Jay-Z hailed from a difficult background.

He was once a crack dealer on a tough New York estate and even shot his brother in the shoulder after believing he had stolen his ring.

SCROLL DOWN FOR POINT NO 6: LOSING HER VIRGINITY


6) LOSING HER VIRGINITY

Beyoncé’s first boyfriend was a boy called Lyndall Locke, a boy from her church group who she began dating aged 12.

They were an item for seven years, but she was less than complimentary about him in later years, saying their first kiss ‘sucked.’

Lyndall later admitted cheating on the star - citing the somewhat lame excuse that he didn't feel worthy of her!

However, it’s thought that Beyoncé decided not to lose her virginity to him - and that she waited until she was with Jay-Z for that to happen.

7) THE INVENTION OF SASHA FIERCE

Her stage persona Sasha Fierce was dreamt up by her cousin Angie when they were kids as a way of helping her cope with crippling nerves whenever she performed.

The name stuck around for years - until Beyoncé made the decision to kill Sasha off in 2010.



8) ANIMAL RIGHTS CONTROVERSY
Fashion forward she may be, but Beyoncé has had frequent run-ins with animal rights group PETA, who regularly criticise her for wearing fur and skins.

On one occasion, two activists posing as competition winners ambushed her in Nobu restaurant in New York and filmed the encounter.

Asking her why she felt the need to wear fur, Beyoncé replied that she felt ‘uncomfortable’ to be put on the spot and resolutely ignored the rest of their questions.

As her angry mum Tina stepped in, the pair were escorted out of the restaurant by staff.



9) IS SHE JEALOUS OF RIHANNA?
Beyoncé’s marriage has come under vast scrutiny in the past few months and her husband has been linked to many famous women over the years - including his young protégée Rihanna.

Though the two women have both denied rumours that they don’t get on, Beyoncé reportedly once banned any of Ri-Ri’s music from being played at a clothing launch for her House of Deréon range in Toronto.


10) BOOTYLICIOUS IS A REAL WORD

A true cultural phenomenon of our times, Beyoncé’s invented word ‘Bootylicious’ was even added to the Oxford English dictionary in 2008.

But she later admitted she found the word ‘really irritating.