Sir David Attenborough remembers the Queen: ‘The whole nation is bereaved’

Sir David Attenborough has joined other influential figures in paying tribute to the Queen, saying she had an “extraordinary ability to put you at your ease”.

The environmentalist and broadcaster, who was first knighted by the Queen in 1985, has a long history and a strong relationship with the royal family, including the Queen, with whom he shared a strong rapport.

Sir David said: “If there was a technical hitch, she wanted to know what it was, and if it had a funny side, she was quick to see the joke.

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“Yet not for one second could you forget that you were in the presence of someone who had willingly accepted enormous responsibility and dedicated her life to serving the nation – that you were, in short, in the presence of royalty.

Sir David enjoyed making a documentary with the late QueenSir David enjoyed making a documentary with the late Queen
Sir David enjoyed making a documentary with the late Queen

“The whole nation is bereaved.”

The 96-year-old appeared with the monarch in 2018 in a documentary programme, The Queen’s Green Planet, which featured a unique and informal conversation between the pair, filmed as they strolled through the gardens of Buckingham Palace an the Queen pointed out her favourite trees.

Sir David and the Queen had known each other for many years, with the broadcaster producing the Queen’s televised Christmas Day address for more than five years in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2020, Sir David was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael And St George for services to television broadcasting and to conservation in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

The TV figure and Queen celebrated their 90th birthdays just weeks apart in 2016.

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