Personal social media captions from Prince William and Kate Middleton are rare, which makes the use of them all the more impactful—like today, when the Prince of Wales took to Instagram to honor biologist and natural historian, Sir David Attenborough, on the occasion of his 99th birthday.
Prince William Posts Rare Personal 99th Birthday Tribute, Plus a Throwback Pic with All 3 Kids
The pair are clearly quite close
Published May 8, 2025
•8:10pm
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The heartfelt caption begins: “As he turns 99 today, in his new film, Sir David has once again reminded us of the need to protect natural habitats—this time those beneath the ocean. He has dedicated his life to ensuring we understand the realities of what mankind is doing to the planet.”
William continues: “However hard hitting his message is, Sir David always leaves us with a sense of hope and optimism that is not lost and this film is no different. We must act together, with urgency, to restore our oceans. Happy Birthday, David.” (The Prince of Wales then signs off with a “W,” giving confirmation that he wrote this message himself.)
There’s more: Accompanying the post is a pic of William and Attenborough, plus a throwback photo of the conservationist meeting with the then-Cambridge fam (Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all included) at Kensington Palace in the fall of 2020. In case you forgot, Sir David is a total celeb in the Wales’ household—we’ll never forget Charlotte’s starstruck face as well as their video asking him questions about everything from spiders to the environment, #TBT.
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Typically, the royal family isn’t all that verbose when it comes to birthday tributes. But that’s why it’s so interesting to see an exception made for Attenborough, likely for a number of reasons: The first being his impact on William’s own environmental work via the Earthshot Prize. (Attenborough is a Prize Council Member for William’s decade-long initiative, which is designed to approach climate change with actual solutions and optimism.) It’s also the perfect time for the Prince of Wales to help spread the word about Attenborough’s latest documentary, Ocean: With David Attenborough, available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu in June.
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There’s a poignant, family-related reason, too: Attenborough, through his work, has left a significant mark on the lives of all three of William and Kate’s children. (William once shared that Prince George especially devours Attenborough’s documentaries—though he couldn’t make it through Extinction since it made him feel quite sad.) When anyone has that great of an impact on the lives of your children, it’s a gift to be able to honor them. The occasion of a birthday is as good a time as any.
More heartfelt messages from William, please. But also, we’ll add our own celebratory wishes: Happy Birthday to Sir David Attenborough, who—via Charlotte—helped us love spiders, too.
