{"id":72872,"date":"2025-05-04T03:56:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T03:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/72872\/"},"modified":"2025-05-04T03:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T03:56:11","slug":"thank-you-to-a-true-giant-for-inspiring-me-and-my-family-prince-williams-tribute-as-guiding-light-david-attenborough-turns-99-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/72872\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you to a true giant for inspiring me and my family… Prince William’s tribute as ‘guiding light’ David Attenborough turns 99 this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

By IAN GALLAGHER <\/p>\n

Published: 18:56 EDT, 3 May 2025 | Updated: 18:58 EDT, 3 May 2025 <\/p>\n

The Prince of Wales has paid a heartfelt personal tribute to David Attenborough<\/a> ahead of his 99th birthday, calling him an inspiration to \u2018my children and me\u2019.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, William hailed the naturalist\u2019s \u2018lifetime of extraordinary service to our planet\u2019.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018May we all raise a glass to a true giant \u2013 and continue the mission he has led with such grace and urgency.\u2019<\/p>\n

In Sir David\u2019s new documentary, Ocean, which airs in cinemas on Thursday \u2013 his birthday \u2013 he reflects on his mortality and what he has learnt from a lifetime studying the Earth, saying: \u2018After living for nearly 100 years, I now understand that if we save the sea we save our world.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sir David is closely involved in William\u2019s Earthshot Prize, which gives \u00a31 million every year to five projects tackling climate challenges<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has also worked with King Charles<\/a> on numerous environmental causes.<\/p>\n

William added: \u2018We celebrate not just a milestone of years, but a lifetime of extraordinary service to our planet.\u00a0Through his boundless curiosity, gentle wisdom and unwavering commitment… he has brought the wonders of Earth into our homes and into our hearts.<\/p>\n

\u2018His voice has become a guiding light in our understanding of nature, and his message \u2013 that we must cherish and protect our planet \u2013 has never been more vital.<\/p>\n

\"Speaking <\/p>\n

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Prince William hailed the naturalist\u2019s \u2018lifetime of extraordinary service to our planet\u2019<\/p>\n

\"He <\/p>\n

He said: \u2018May we all raise a glass to a true giant \u2013 and continue the mission he has led with such grace and urgency\u2019<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In Sir David\u2019s new documentary, Ocean, which airs in cinemas on Thursday \u2013 his birthday \u2013 he reflects on his mortality and what he has learnt from a lifetime studying the Earth, saying: \u2018After living for nearly 100 years, I now understand that if we save the sea we save our world\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018He has inspired my children and me in so many ways.\u2019<\/p>\n

It was the response of his son Prince George to one of Sir David\u2019s shows on extinction that inspired William to act on climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The then seven-year-old told his father: \u2018I don\u2019t want to watch any more \u2013 why has it come to this?\u2019<\/p>\n

Later that year, Prince George and siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis put wildlife questions to Sir David in an interview filmed by their parents and released on social media.<\/p>\n

\"Prince <\/p>\n

Prince George and siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis put wildlife questions to Sir David in an interview filmed by their parents and released on social media – to one question about his favourite animals, Sir David replied ‘I think I like monkeys best’<\/p>\n

Sir David\u2019s new film focuses on the industrial fishing method of bottom trawling which, he says, is \u2018draining the life from our oceans\u2019.<\/p>\n

He adds: \u2018When I first saw the sea as a boy, it was thought of as a vast wilderness to be tamed and mastered for the benefit of humanity. Now, as I approach the end of my life, we know the opposite is true.<\/p>\n

\u2018After living for nearly 100 years, I now understand that if we save the sea we save our world.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sir David is expected to make a rare public appearance at the London premiere of the documentary.<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Thank you to a true giant for inspiring me and my family… Prince William’s tribute as ‘guiding light’ David Attenborough turns 99 this week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By IAN GALLAGHER Published: 18:56 EDT, 3 May 2025 | Updated: 18:58 EDT, 3 May 2025 The Prince…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[92,20487,875,77,1761,532,448,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-72872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-david-attenborough","10":"tag-earth","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-prince-george","13":"tag-prince-william","14":"tag-royals","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114447554020029744","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}