David Attenborough: The host of Planet Earth had a happy 47-year marriage.
Despite having a particular place in his heart for the planet, Sir David Attenborough, one of the most adored nature presenters in the UK, has dedicated his heart to his late wife, Jane Ebsworth Oriel.
The couple married in 1950 and had two children together during their beautiful marriage. But regrettably, 47 years after marrying the naturalist, Jane passed away at the age of 70.
Jane grew up in the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil, and she later moved to Richmond-upon-Thames following her marriage to David. Little is known about how the couple first crossed paths, but the pair married in 1950.
Sir David and Jane welcomed two children during their relationship: son Robert and daughter Susan. However, David Attenborough missed out on parts of their childhood due to his commitments to filming, which often took him abroad.
In 2017, the Planet Earth presenter reflected: “If I do have regrets, it is that when my children were the same age as your children, I was away for three months. If you have a child of six or eight and you miss three months of his or her life, it’s irreplaceable; you miss something.”
The celebrity told the Guardian, “You know, ‘You were never there.'” David Attenborough absences got to be a family joke. Since you weren’t present, you don’t recall it, Father?
These days, Richard teaches bioanthropology, and Susan works for her father, just like her late mother did after she passed away. Susan was the principal of a primary school prior to working in the field with her father.
David Attenborough learned that Jane, 70, had gone into a coma after suffering a brain hemorrhage in 1997 while filming The Life of Birds in New Zealand. David was there when his wife passed away, and the broadcaster hurried back to be with her.
In his 2010 memoir, David Attenborough said that Jane “gave [his] hand a squeeze” before passing away. Speaking of the impact of Jane’s death, he wrote: “The focus of my life, the anchor had gone… now I was lost.”
The 98-year-old still lives in their Richmond home, previously telling the Daily Mail: “What would be the point? I would leave the home we made together, the garden we built. I think it’s probably sentimental. This house is all bound up with her. I feel her here as much as anywhere.”
He told the Radio Times: “You deal with things, you accommodate things. I’m used to being alone in the wilderness, but I don’t like living in an empty house. However, my daughter is present. The natural environment is the only source of solace during intense suffering.
In 2011, David told the Telegraph that his work with nature had helped him overcome his sadness over his late wife: “I did cope by working, and again it was just the most fantastic luck that I was able to.”
