All you need to know about Sir David Attenborough's private children Robert and Susan

All you need to know about Sir David Attenborough’s private children Robert and Susan

Last updated: 2024/10/27 at 7:25 AM

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David Attenborough has built an incredible fanbase over a career spanning more than 50 years, but despite his star power, his children lead relatively normal lives.

The Planet Earth presenter welcomed his son Richard and daughter Susan with his late wife, Jane Ebsworth Oriel. Although they both stay out of the spotlight, the pair have still followed in their father’s footsteps, with Richard becoming a teacher in bioanthropology while Susan now works alongside her dad.

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Growing up, David was sometimes an absent father as his career took him all over the globe, something he would later reflect on. In 2017, the Planet Earth presenter told the Radio Times: “If I do have regrets, it is that when my children were the same age as your children, I was away for three months at a time.

“If you have a child of six or eight and you miss three months of his or her life, it’s irreplaceable; you miss something.”

Robert Attenborough

Robert is currently in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. His research is listed as: “Human population biology and health, especially in New Guinea. Evolutionary and behavioural anthropology.”

David Attenborough and his young son with David holding a small animal — David’s son grew up around animals

In an interview with the Times, David recalled the time he gifted Robert a pet salamander for his birthday. “We unpacked this – it came in a box – I took it out and showed him,” he explained.

Black-and-white photo of a family-of-four with a bird in a cage — David is a father-of-two

“I said, ‘Now there you are.’ This thing just sat on his hand. I said, ‘Put him in his new home.’ He put him in his new home, and it very slowly walked down to the water, and there out from beneath its tail came a little one. My son looked at that with his eyes coming out of his head – as did I.”

Susan Attenborough

Susan used to be the head of a primary school, but these days she works with her father, occupying a role that had previously been filled by her late mother.

Black-and-white photo of David Attenborough with his daughter, Susan, and wife, Jane — David started working with his daughter after his wife’s death

Susan often stops in with her father, helping the 98-year-old with his shopping. Speaking in 2009, David said Susan would come and “muck him out” including cooking shepherd’s pies for her father.

David Attenborough — The pair have a close relationship

However, in 2017, the star revealed his biggest fear concerned his children. “I’m scared of becoming an appalling encumbrance on my children,” he told Stylist magazine.

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