When Katie Price announced last week, 'Any child that has parents who are divorced are lucky. They get extra Christmas presents, birthday presents and extra trips,' she immediately faced a media backlash.

Katie likened her divorce from Peter Andre to her own upbringing, saying: 'I revert back to when my mum and dad split up. I was three or four and I can't even remember it. So really it was good it happened at that age because if it had happened when the kids were a bit older then I think it probably could have affected them.'

But whilst the tabloid papers went into 'controversy' and 'latest gaff' overdrive, one woman knew exactly where Katie was coming from:

'I don't know what the context was for her comment, but this was exactly the sort of thing we used to say as kids when people used to say they felt sorry for us,' says Charlotte, now, 34. 'We were the only ones in our school whose parents had divorced so it was commented on quite a lot. Obviously, I didn't want my parents to get divorced and would have loved them to get back together, but that wasn't going to happen so I just made the best of it, and part of that happened to be that we had two Christmases, and two big presents for our birthdays rather than one from both parents.

'So actually, I can understand it if she was saying it to her kids to comfort them, or with them in mind. It's a bit clumsy perhaps, but I can think of far more outrageous comments than that. So no, not lucky, but I don't really understand the horrified reaction.'

But whilst Charlotte supports Katie's comments, divorce expert Jackie Walker disagrees:

'Interesting take,' she says, 'Obviously there are times when kids are better off because of divorce, for their own peace and security, but not when it comes to birthday and Christmas presents. That is purely a materialistic thing, and materialism is not what makes children happy. Love and respect and attention make them happy, not presents.'

Jackie also criticises the 'message' that celebrity divorces can often send out:

'I think that celebrities sometimes paint a very different picture of divorce to the reality of it,' she says. 'Especially when it comes to settlements – celebrities can afford to fight financially, and many go all out to do so, but when it comes down to the normal person on the street, divorce is expensive, financially and emotionally.'

'Ultimately, parents should be working together to reach solutions for their family, and finding a kind and friendly way to go about it. In some cases that might mean they still have joint presents from mummy and daddy, or it could mean they do indeed get two lots of Christmas and birthday gifts.

'But the reality of divorce is usually that most families are left in a worse financial position, and because of that, mums and dads should never allow themselves to get into a competition to outdo the other parent in the eyes of the children.'

What do you think? Were Katie Price's comments realistic or materialistic?