Prince William says he had to switch off David Attenborough’s extinction documentary when Prince George, 7, became sad and asked: ‘Why has it come to this?’
- Prince William said Prince George became sad at Attenborough documentary
- Family was watching Extinction: The Facts, which aired last month on BBC1
- William said George asked to stop watching and said: ‘Why has it come to this?’
- Today Duke of Cambridge launches the £50million Earthshot Prize
The Duke of Cambridge revealed how his seven-year-old son Prince George became distressed by a David Attenborough documentary on extinction.
Prince William, 38, explained he was watching Extinction: The Facts, which aired last month on BBC1, when Prince George ‘got sad’ and asked to turn it off.
The programme contained ‘horrific scenes of destruction’, including monkeys leaping from trees into a river to escape a huge fire. In another scene, a koala limped across a road in a doomed search for shelter from a forest blaze.
William revealed: ‘He [George] said actually: “I don’t want to watch it anymore. Why has it come to this?” He’s seven years old and he’s asking these questions.’
The comments came as the Duke of Cambridge launches the Earthshot Prize, which will see a total of 50 environmental pioneers each awarded a £1million prize for their work tackling major problems across climate and energy, nature and biodiversity, oceans, air pollution and fresh water.
Prince William, 38, explained he was watching Extinction: The Facts, which aired last month on BBC1, when Prince George ‘got sad’ and asked to turn it off. Prince George was clearly impacted by the documentary because he asked Sir David about which animals could next become extinct during a Q&A filmed at Kensington Palace (pictured)
Speaking in a new interview to promote the project, William said: ‘We’ve watched so many David Attenborough documentaries recently with my children.
‘They absolutely love them but the most recent one, the extinction one, actually George and I had to turn it off because he got so sad halfway through.
‘He said actually: “I don’t want to watch it anymore. Why has it come to this?” He’s seven years old and he’s asking these questions.
‘He feels it and I think every seven year old out there can relate to that, so from an emotional point of view every parent wants to do the best for their children and I think we have to have a decade of change, a decade of repairing the planet so we can hand it on to the next generation and future generations and sustain the prosperity for their lives too.’
The comments came as the Duke of Cambridge launches the Earthshot Prize, which will see a total of 50 environmental pioneers each awarded a £1million prize for their work tackling major problems. Pictured, William giving an interview to promote the prize
The one-hour film Extinction: The Facts portrayed the devastating consequences of mankind’s encroachment on natural habitats – and drew a clear link to pandemics such as the coronavirus crisis.
At the start of the documentary, Sir David warned that ‘we are facing a crisis’ and it is one ‘that has consequences for us all’.
Prince George was clearly impacted by the documentary because he asked Sir David about which animals could next become extinct during a Q&A filmed at Kensington Palace.
George asked: ‘Hello David Attenborough, what animal do you think will become extinct next?’
Sir David Attenborough’s one-hour film Extinction: The Facts portrayed the devastating consequences of mankind’s encroachment on natural habitats – and drew a clear link to pandemics such as the coronavirus crisis
The documentary portrays the world’s last two northern white rhinos, a mother and a daughter, in Central Africa as it warns about extinction (above)
Prince William shared this insight into his family while launching the £50million Earthshot Prize.
The Earthshot Prize, which has been likened to a green Nobel Prize, will drive change and help to repair the planet over the next 10 years.
The ambitious decade-long project will see a total of 50 environmental pioneers each awarded a £1million prize for their work tackling major problems across climate and energy, nature and biodiversity, oceans, air pollution and fresh water.
The £50million project is funded by a network of philanthropic organisations and private companies and individuals including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Jack Ma Foundation and US billionaire Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne.
Prince William has launched the most prestigious global environment prize in history, as the five challenges at the heart of The Earthshot Prize are unveiled. Pictured, with Sir David Attenborough