Awards
Ceremonies, investitures, honorary degrees, BAFTAs and the rest, which are also the part of his life that free photography actually covers, because press and government photographers were there and the BBC owned everything else. The centenary in May 2026 belongs here: a Royal Albert Hall gala broadcast as a ninety-minute programme, and the announcement that he would narrate Blue Planet III.
Part of David Attenborough
54 moments in this segment.
- - Sir David Attenborough & Pat Mitchell - The Private Life of Plants - 1995 Peabody Award. The Private Life of Plants receives a Peabody Award for 1995. The series used time lapse photography to make plant behaviour visible, and the technique was extended by The Green Planet in 2022.
- - Peabody Award ceremony. His international standing rests on sales rather than on a single broadcast audience. The often quoted five hundred million viewers for Life on Earth is a cumulative global reach estimate with no published methodology, not an audience figure, and should never be stated as one.
- - David Attenborough - NTA Special Award Part 1. Attenborough receives a National Television Awards special award in 2006. That year also brought Planet Earth and The Truth About Climate Change, the programme where he set out his changed position.
- - David Attenborough - NTA Special Award Part 2. The second part of Attenborough's National Television Awards special award. He holds awards spanning black and white, colour and high definition television eras.
- - The Quadrangle, Windsor Castle. Attenborough was invested with the GCMG at Windsor Castle on 8 June 2022. Investitures at Windsor rather than Buckingham Palace became common in the later years of Elizabeth II's reign, and he received his from the reigning monarch of the day.
- - Accepting an award in Madrid, 2007. He gives the acceptance speech at the SGE awards in Madrid in February 2007. By this point he holds a knighthood from 1985, the Order of Merit from 2005, the Kalinga Prize from 1981 and more honorary degrees than any other person by most reckonings, with over thirty counted by 2013.
- - The auditorium, Royal Albert Hall. The hall that staged the centenary gala on his hundredth birthday, 8 May 2026. Anniversary programming of this kind is promotional in function and the BBC is an interested party, which is worth stating plainly even when the occasion is genuine.
- - At the Emmy Awards. American television awards have gone repeatedly to the series he narrates. Doug Allan, his principal polar cameraman, took eight Emmys and four BAFTAs in his own right, which is a reminder that the trade honours the people behind the camera as well as the voice.
- - Sir David Attenborough - Honorary - University of Leicester. Attenborough receives an honorary degree from the University of Leicester. He had more than 32 honorary degrees by January 2013, reported as more than any other person.
- - A Kalinga Prize laureate. The Kalinga Prize is awarded by UNESCO for the popularisation of science and Attenborough received it in 1981, two years after Life on Earth. It places him in a line of science communicators rather than of broadcasters.
- - Wildscreen 2012, Bristol. Filmmakers Oliver Goetzl and Ivo Noerenberg receive the Animal Behaviour award at Wildscreen in Bristol in October 2012. Wildscreen is the wildlife film industry's own festival and its Panda awards are the trade's internal measure; Charles Lagus, the cameraman on Zoo Quest, took its Lifetime Achievement Panda in 1986.
- - Sir David Attenborough - 2014 Peabody Award Acceptance Speech. Attenborough accepts a Peabody Award in 2014. He holds honours across broadcasting, science and the state, including the Order of Merit awarded in 2005.
- - Richard Attenborough obituary: Friend, mentor, inspiration | Channel 4 News. Channel 4 News marks the death of Richard Attenborough, the actor and director, on 24 August 2014, five days short of his 91st birthday. Brother John died on 9 November 2012, leaving David the only surviving brother.
- - With Bence Mate at Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He meets the Hungarian wildlife photographer Bence Mate at the fiftieth Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition at the Natural History Museum in London. The museum is one of the institutions closest to his public work and it announced a wasp genus named for him around his hundredth birthday.
- - Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George, St Paul's. The order's chapel in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral. Attenborough's honours run from a CBE in 1974 through the 1985 knighthood, the Companion of Honour, the Order of Merit in 2005 and the GCMG in 2020.
- - A Peabody Award. The Peabody honours broadcasting in the public interest and is among the awards Attenborough's series have taken in the United States. Life on Earth reached American audiences on PBS only in 1982, three years after the British broadcast.
- - Lemon tree planted by Attenborough, Gijon. A lemon tree planted by him at the Atlantic Botanic Garden in Gijon, Spain, in 2009. Commemorative plantings and unveilings are a substantial part of his public record and are the sort of occasion that generates freely licensed photography.
- - Knight Bachelor insignia. The badge of a Knight Bachelor, the rank Attenborough received in 1985. He was knighted six years after Life on Earth, at the point where the Life series had established him as the dominant figure in the form.
- - Prince William presents Sir David Attenborough with award. Prince William presents Attenborough with an award in 2016. His honours include the Kalinga Prize in 1981, the International Cosmos Prize in 2000, the Prince of Asturias Award in 2009 and the Stephen Hawking Medal in 2024.
- - David Attenborough Ceremonial Opening of Attenborough Arts Centre. Attenborough opens the Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester. The centre is named for the family, whose three brothers all became public figures in Britain.
- - Planet Earth II wins Specialist Factual | BAFTA TV Awards 2017.. Planet Earth II wins Specialist Factual at the BAFTA TV Awards in 2017. Mike Gunton was Creative Director of the Natural History Unit on that series, a post he has held since November 2009.
- - David Attenborough & Blue Planet II Crew on Virgin TV's Must-See Moment Win | BAFTA TV Awards 2018. Attenborough and the Blue Planet II crew accept the BAFTA Must-See Moment award in 2018. Crew appearances at awards are among the few occasions the camera operators are named in public.
- - Blue Planet II wins Virgin TV's Must-See Moment | BAFTA TV Awards 2018. Blue Planet II wins the Virgin TV Must-See Moment award. The series moved the political agenda on plastics, though the study that tested viewer behaviour found no significant change in plastic choices.
- - Sir David Attenborough - George Davies Centre naming celebration. Attenborough at the naming of a building at the University of Leicester, where his father Frederick was Principal of University College Leicester.
- - Sir David Attenborough, Conservationist of the Year. Attenborough is named Conservationist of the Year by the Lion Guardians. Conservation organisations increasingly honour him as an advocate rather than as a broadcaster.
- - Sustainability prize, Norwegian Club, London. He receives the Norwegian sustainability prize at Den Norske Klub in London in November 2018. That same year, around the launch of Dynasties, he argued publicly that too many grim messages would be a turn off for viewers, a position he held after his environmental turn and the one his critics attack most directly.
- - The Perfect World Foundation Award, 2018. Portrait at the Perfect World Foundation award in September 2018. Free photography of him clusters heavily in the 2000s to 2020s and almost entirely around public appearances of this kind, because the early career and field material sits in BBC ownership and is not openly licensed.
- - Landscape Institute Medal for Lifetime Achievement. He receives the Landscape Institute Medal for Lifetime Achievement and becomes an Honorary Fellow, in November 2019. The honours list by this point runs from a CBE in 1974 through the 1985 knighthood to a second knighthood, the GCMG, in the 2020 Birthday Honours, invested at Windsor Castle on 8 June 2022.
- - Star of the Order of St Michael and St George. Attenborough was appointed Knight Grand Cross of this order, the GCMG, in the 2020 Birthday Honours, and invested at Windsor Castle on 8 June 2022. It is his second knighthood, which is why articles about two knighthoods exist; the first, a Knight Bachelor, came in 1985.
- - Mantle and star of the Order of St Michael and St George. The order was founded in 1818 for service overseas and in foreign affairs. The choice of it for a broadcaster reflects the argument that his programmes are Britain's most widely exported cultural product, sold to more than a hundred countries.
- - The Royal Society, Carlton House Terrace. Attenborough is a Fellow of the Royal Society, elected for his contribution to the public understanding of science rather than for research. The society is one of several institutions, along with the Natural History Museum and Kew, that anchor his scientific standing.
- - Sir David Attenborough's Speech at the 2021 Earthshot Prize | @EarthshotPrize. Attenborough speaks at the first Earthshot Prize ceremony in 2021. The prize was launched the previous year with Prince William, and Attenborough sits on its council.
- - Chatham House Centenary Lifetime Award - Sir David Attenborough (speech and closing remarks). Attenborough receives the Chatham House Centenary Lifetime Award in 2021. He and the BBC Studios Natural History Unit had jointly received the Chatham House Prize two years earlier.
- - Chatham House Centenary Lifetime Award - Sir David Attenborough (full event). The full Chatham House Centenary Lifetime Award event for Attenborough. Awards from foreign policy institutions reflect how far his advocacy moved beyond broadcasting after 2004.
- - We need to do this now | The Earthshot Prize Ceremony. Attenborough at the first Earthshot Prize ceremony in 2021. The prize awards five million pounds annually across five categories for environmental solutions.
- - Sir David Attenborough collects high honour from Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle | ITV News. Attenborough is invested as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George at Windsor Castle on 8 June 2022, the honour announced in the 2020 Birthday Honours. It is his second knighthood, after the Knight Bachelor of 1985.
- - The Royal Society mace. The mace presented by Charles II, carried at the society's formal meetings. Attenborough also holds the Kalinga Prize of 1981, awarded by UNESCO for popularising science, and the Kew International Medal of 1996.
- - Windsor Castle, upper ward. He is a Companion of Honour, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and holds more than thirty honorary degrees, reported by 2013 as more than any other person. The Royal Albert Hall gala for his hundredth birthday in May 2026 was broadcast as David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth.
- - Time capsule buried at Kew, marker in 2024. The marker in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew Gardens recording a time capsule Attenborough buried on 22 March 1985, the year of his first knighthood. Kew awarded him its International Medal in 1996 and holds material for several plants named after him.
- - Secret World Of Sound With David Attenborough Wins Sound: Factual | BAFTA Craft Awards 2025. Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough wins the sound factual category at the BAFTA Craft Awards in 2025. Craft awards go to the crew rather than the presenter.
- - David Attenborough Sets Emmy Record at 99 Years Old. Attenborough sets an Emmy record at 99 years old in 2025. His awards run across black and white, colour and high definition eras, though the exact form of that much repeated line should be checked before quoting.
- - David Attenborough at 100: A Special Birthday Message From King Charles III | BBC Earth. King Charles III sends a birthday message for Attenborough's 100th on 8 May 2026. Attenborough holds the Order of Merit, awarded in 2005, and was made CBE in 1974.
- - Prince William's Speech For Sir David Attenborough's 100th Birthday At The Royal Albert Hall. Prince William speaks at the Royal Albert Hall for Attenborough's 100th birthday. The gala was broadcast as David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth.
- - King Charles III enlists creature couriers to congratulate David Attenborough on his 100th birthday. King Charles III congratulates Attenborough on his centenary. Attenborough is alive and working at 100, and the BBC announced during the centenary that he narrates Blue Planet III.
- - Dan Smith ft. The Ascension Choir - Pompeii | David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth. Dan Smith performs Pompeii with the Ascension Choir at the Royal Albert Hall centenary gala. The concert brought performers together around the archive of his narration.
- - Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla | David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth. Sigur Ros perform Hoppipolla at the centenary gala. The track was used in BBC natural history trailers and became associated with the Planet Earth strand.
- - Francisco Yglesia - Pájaro Campana (The Bell Bird) | David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth. Francisco Yglesia performs Pajaro Campana at the Royal Albert Hall centenary gala. The programme drew on music associated with his series across the decades.
- - Celebrating 100 years of Sir David Attenborough | WWF UK. WWF marks 100 years of Attenborough. WWF co-produced Our Planet with Silverback Films for Netflix and has worked with him repeatedly since the environmental turn.
- - Famous animals celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday. The BBC assembles famous animal sequences to mark Attenborough's 100th birthday on 8 May 2026. The centenary gala at the Royal Albert Hall was broadcast as David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth.
- - Prince William attends Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday Anniversary at Royal Albert Hall. Prince William attends the Royal Albert Hall for Attenborough's 100th birthday. The two launched the Earthshot Prize together in 2020.
- - Sir David Attenborough at 100: A Century of Wonder | 9 News Australia Documentary. An Australian documentary marking Attenborough at 100. His international audience is one reason commentators doubt any single successor could replace him.
- - Sir David Attenborough Celebrates His 100th Birthday | 10 News. Australian television covers Attenborough's 100th birthday. He is alive and working at 100, and the BBC announced during the centenary that he narrates Blue Planet III.
- - Australia’s Special Gift For Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday | 10 News+. Australia marks Attenborough's centenary with a gift. The lyrebird sequence from The Life of Birds in 1998, filmed in Australia, is among his most reproduced work.
- - Sneak Peek: The New Season of NATURE. PBS previews a new season of Nature featuring Attenborough among others. American public television carried Life on Earth from 1982, three years after its UK broadcast.