BBC Hosts David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday Party at Royal Albert Hall

David Attenborough turned 100 on Friday, with BBC hosting a party for him at the Royal Albert Hall and cinemas playing his nature films as friends spent weeks praising his work.

“David Attenborough, the excited but hushed voice of nature programs, turns 100 David Attenborough, the excited but hushed voice of nature programs, turns 100 LONDON (AP) — The BBC is hosting a party for David Attenborough at the Royal Albert Hall”

AP News

NPR described fans in animal costumes—lions, tigers and bumble bees—gathering around a life-sized cardboard cutout of Attenborough in London’s Trafalgar Square, singing wildlife ballads and “Happy Birthday.”

AP News

The Associated Press said Alastair Fothergill, producer of some of Attenborough’s most well-known documentaries, told the outlet that Attenborough is likely to be uncomfortable with all the attention.

AP also noted that Attenborough’s voice has brought “frolicking gorillas, breaching whales and tiny poisonous frogs” into living rooms around the world for more than 70 years.

In a message released for his May 8 birthday, Attenborough said, “I had rather thought that I would celebrate my 100th birthday quietly but it seems that many of you have had other ideas.”

Alastair Fothergill told The Associated Press that Attenborough’s guidance to those around him is captured in the line, “Remember, the animals are the stars, I’m not,” and Fothergill added that Attenborough “doesn’t like being famous at all.”

The Associated Press also quoted Professor Ben Garrod, an evolutionary biologist at the University of East Anglia, saying Attenborough “shouldn’t have ever had to have turned to policymaking and advocacy,” and Garrod asked, “Why didn’t we?”

BBC

In London rush hour, NPR reported commuters talking to the reporter about Attenborough’s voice, with Andriana Naidoo saying, “His voice! We connect his voice with nature and good things,” and Liam Wall recalling watching Planet Earth with his dad.

NPR also included Sharmila Choudhury’s account of working with Attenborough, including her recollection that when a little peregrine chick in Wild London was “screaming its little head off,” Attenborough told her, “Now, now.”

Prince Harry, writing in a Time magazine essay, described Attenborough as “more than a broadcaster; he is a secular saint,” and said Attenborough “has earned the world’s trust by simply showing us that our environment is worth appreciating.”

Attenborough’s 100th birthday is being marked with programming and events that include a concert Friday at Royal Albert Hall, plus special broadcasts on BBC and activities such as nature walks and tree-planting events, according to NPR.

“The British naturalist and science communicator David Attenborough attends the Wimbledon tennis championship on July 1, 2024”

Diario de Santiago

The Associated Press said Attenborough’s work has helped teach people about evolution, animal behavior and biodiversity, and it added that he began to sound the alarm about climate change and ocean plastic as the evidence mounted.

The Guardian previewed BBC’s “100 Years on Planet Earth” as a 90-minute journey through Attenborough’s most remarkable moments over the last century, with the BBC Concert Orchestra accompanying the live event at Royal Albert Hall.

In parallel, Popular Science reported that a new genus of parasitic wasp, Attenboroughnculus tau, was named in his honor, describing the specimen as 0.14 inches long and collected from Chile’s Valdivia Province in 1983.

Attenboroughnculus tau’s naming was also tied to the birthday milestone in the Natural History Museum statement quoted by Popular Science, where Jennifer Pullar said, “We hope to inspire global scientists to take another look in their collections” for future understanding of the natural world.