Naturalist Sir David Attenborough, 93, returns to British TV tonight as his new series Seven Worlds, One Planet airs on the BBC. The veteran broadcaster has dedicated his adult life to bringing the natural world to our screens and shares a surprising amount in common with the Royal Family.

David Attenborough has been honoured by Queen Elizabeth II more than once over the years.

He was granted a CBE for his work in 1974 before receiving a knighthood in 1985.

The Queen and Sir David are the same age and have met on several occasions during her reign.

Most recently he joined the Queen at a select Order of Merit gathering at Windsor Castle.

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In 2016 he was pictured speaking animatedly with the Queen at Buckingham Palace at an event to honour her Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy project which works to plant more trees across the world.

However, the Queen is not the only royal who shares a love for the environment with Britain’s favourite nature buff.

Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Charles all joined Sir David earlier this year for the launch of his first Netflix series.

The world premiere of Our Planet was hosted at London’s Natural History Museum and the royals were out in force to support it.

In the past year, Prince Harry has spoken frequently about his wish to help save the environment from climate change.

The Our Planet series shed new light on the damaging impact single-use plastics have on the environment.

Prince Harry shared his view on these issues in an interview he conducted with primatologist Dr Jane Goodall in the September issue of British Vogue.

Speaking about climate change, Prince Harry said: “What we need to remind everybody is: these are things that are happening now.

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“We are already living in it. We are the frog in the water and it’s already been brought to the boil. Which is terrifying.

Quizzed about whether having a baby had changed Prince Harry’s view of things, he said: “It does make it different.

“I think, weirdly, because of the people that I’ve met and the places that I’ve been fortunate enough to go to, I’ve always had a connection and a love for nature.

“I view it differently now, without question.

“But I’ve always wanted to try and ensure that, even before having a child and hoping to have children.”

When Dr Jane Goodall joked Harry and Meghan shouldn’t have “too many” children for the sake of the planet, the prince revealed he and Meghan planned to have no more than two.

He said: “Two, maximum!

“But I’ve always thought: this place is borrowed. And, surely, being as intelligent as we all are, or as evolved as we all are supposed to be, we should be able to leave something better behind for the next generation.”

Prince William has shared his love for the outdoors in a new documentary about the Duchy of Cornwall estate, managed by Prince Charles.

Prince Charles has championed environmental causes for decades and he and David Attenborough clearly see eye to eye on a number of topics.

Speaking in episode two of the ITV programme Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall, Prince William says: “My children are already playing on the tractors and … it’s so important to get outside, and have the children understand nature.”

The Duke of Cambridge added his eldest Prince George, six, would have loved to visit the farm with him, saying: “He would be absolutely loving this. He’s obsessed!”

Prince William goes onto admit he doesn’t plan to change much when he inherits the Duchy of Cornwall from his father.

He said: “Rest assured I’m not going to rock the boat. I’ll do much the same as what my father’s doing.”

He added he is “very passionate” about farming and is trying to learn as much as he can when in Norfolk.

In the documentary, Prince Charles admits he is very “touched” by William’s interest in the Duchy of Cornwall.

Prince Charles was one of the first big names to champion environmental organisations as early as the 1970s.

In a documentary released ahead of the Prince of Wales’ 70th birthday last year, Prince Harry revealed how his father was ahead of the curve.

In the BBC One documentary about Prince Charles, Harry and William are seen watching old video footage of their father’s speeches about causes close to his heart.

One of the clips shows Charles warning about plastic pollution in 1970.

In reaction to the footage, Prince Harry says: “I used to get taken the mickey out of at school for just picking up rubbish.

When you go for walks anywhere, if you see something, it stands out, you pick it up.

“Before you know it, somebody says, ‘What are you doing?’

“I’ve literally done this because I am programmed to do it because my father did it. And actually, we should all be doing it.”

Harry added: “He’s done an amazing job, without telling us what we should be doing or the direction that we should go in.

“He’s just let us learn from the nature of the job. Learning from him. Learning from mummy.”

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