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Royals

Prince George may have to return Sir David Attenborough’s gift to Malta

The Prince may have to return his gift from the legendary broadcaster

Prince George may have to return his gift from Sir David Attenborough to Malta.

The prince, seven, was gifted an ancient shark tooth fossil by the veteran television presenter, 94.

Sir David gave Prince George the gift last Thursday.

They gathered at Kensington Palace along with Prince William, Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

prince william prince george gift
Prince George with his dad and siblings (Credit: SplashNews)

Why does Malta want Prince George’s tooth back?

Here they watched an outdoor screening of the feature film David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet.

Prince George was photographed carefully inspecting the shark tooth and appeared delighted with the gift.

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The tooth is from the now extinct Carcharocles megalodon. Sir David found it during a family holiday in the 1960s.

However, now Malta’s culture minister Jose Herrera said he wants to ‘get the ball rolling’ for its return.

sir david attenborough
Sir David Attenborough with Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry earlier this year (Credit: SplashNews)

What is the meaning behind the gift?

Mr Herrera told the Times of Malta newspaper: “There are some artefacts that are important to Maltese natural heritage and which ended up abroad and deserve to be retrieved.

“We rightly give a lot of attention to historical and artistic artefacts. However, it is not always the case with our natural history. I am determined to direct a change in this attitude.”

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Sir David told The Times that he loved fossils himself as a young boy.

Therefore he thought this would be a great gift for the young prince.

royal family prince george gift
Prince George with his family at Buckingham Palace (Credit: SplashNews)

Did Prince George like the gift?

Sir David added: “He was certainly very interested. He seemed to like it – he is very interested in fossils.”

Finally, Prince William and Kate Middleton shared their delight at the screening on Instagram.

They posted a series of photos of the family enjoying the exclusive event.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFnWkVDFKbN/

Here, their caption included the story behind the present.

They wrote: “When they met, Sir David gave Prince George a tooth from a giant shark the scientific name of which is carcharocles megalodon (‘big tooth’).

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“Sir David found the tooth on a family holiday to Malta in the late 1960s, embedded in the island’s soft yellow limestone which was laid down during the Miocene period some 23 million years ago.

“Carcharocles is believed to have grown to 15 metres in length, which is about twice the length of the Great White, the largest shark alive today.”

ED has contacted Kensington Palace for comment.

Should Prince George return the gift? Let us know on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor