Prince William has campaigned on environmental issues for many years now, but that doesn’t mean his own family don’t get starstruck! Princess Charlotte was clearly in awe meeting Sir David Attenborough at Kensington Palace on Thursday, while her brother Prince George was fascinated by the fossil handed to him as a gift.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George (seated), Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with Sir David Attenborough in the gardens of Kensington Palace in London after The Duke and Sir David attended an outdoor screening of Sir David’s upcoming feature film. (@KensingtonPalace/PA Wire)
The Cambridges, including the two-year-old Prince Louis, met Sir David Attenborough ahead of a new feature film due out in a few days’ time. The Duke got to see ‘David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet’ at a private viewing with the veteran naturalist, which took place outside to allow for social distancing.
The documentary sees Sir David, 94, reflect on his career, as well as the huge changes the world and its ecosystems have seen in that time; Attenborough is the same age as The Queen.
Prince William and Sir David Attenborough swapped seats for the viewing of his newest documentary (@KensingtonPalace)
The Duke of Cambridge and Sir David had planned directors’ chairs, emblazoned with their names, for the viewing – but in a change of plan they sat in each other’s seats!
“I fear for those,” the broadcaster writes in a book which will accompany the documentary called My Witness Statement, “who will bear witness to the next 90 years, if we continue living as we are doing at present.”
“Our impact is now truly global. Our blind assault on the planet is changing the very fundamentals of the living world.”
Prince George was particularly interested in a huge shark tooth given to him by Attenborough. The fossil was found by Sir David during a family holiday to Malta in the 1960s. It was embedded in soft yellow limestone, and is about 23 million years old.
The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Louis watch as Prince George holds the tooth of a giant shark given to him by Sir David Attenborough in the gardens of Kensington Palace in London after The Duke and Sir David attended an outdoor screening of Sir David’s upcoming feature film. (PA Wire/Kensington Palace)
Carcharocles megalodon is believed to have grown up to 15 metres in length, twice the length of the great white shark.
The seven-year-old Prince looks strikingly like his father in a close up shot.
You can see ‘A Life On Our Planet’ in cinemas on Monday (28th September) and on Netflix on 4th October. An accompanying book will be released on 1st October.
Kensington Palace also said there would be announcements about the newly-launched Earth Shot prize, that was a joint project between The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Attenborough.
Last year, Sir David was interviewed by the future King at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they discussed the world’s climate and nature crises.
