David Attenborough honours Queen Elizabeth II with touching memorial

It was not so long ago that David Attenborough was ambling around the gardens at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth II admiring the ancient trees.

Now, the broadcaster has planted an English oak in the late monarch’s memory, noting fondly as he did so that she was a “great lover of trees”.

The famed naturalist and TV presenter, 96, officially opened a new four-acre Platinum Jubilee woodland in Richmond Park, one of London’s eight Royal Parks.

Having shared a strong rapport with the late Queen, he selected the English oak himself, one of the final few to be planted as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) initiative.

'A fitting tribute'

He said he was “thrilled” to be opening the woodland to celebrate his late friend’s life of service.

“The late Queen was very fond of the Royal Parks and was a great lover of trees, so this is a fitting tribute to her memory,” he said.

“Its creation also marks the continuing conservation of this protected landscape, and the wonderful wildlife within, so that it can be enjoyed by many generations to come.

“The Queen’s Green Canopy has created an invaluable national legacy for our children, future generations and the planet itself.”

The nationwide Plant a Tree for the Jubilee project, which concludes on March 31, has seen more than a million new trees planted in the Queen’s name to celebrate her reign and create a lasting environmental legacy.

It was extended beyond the end of the jubilee year on the wishes of the King to give people the chance to plant trees in his mother’s memory, following her death last September.

One for each year of the late Queen’s reign

The oak is one of 70 new young broadleaved trees – one for each year of the late Queen’s reign – to be planted in the new woodland, joining Dutch elm disease-resistant elms, small-leaved limes, and sweet chestnuts.

They have been planted around a focal point which will later incorporate a seating area for rest and reflection, with the larger canopy trees complemented by smaller native trees and hedging such as hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, elder and dogwood.

It is hoped it will create a new habitat to support wildlife, including the endangered white-letter hairstreak butterfly and the cardinal click beetle.

Sir David was born in the same year, just days apart, from the late monarch.

The pair appeared together in the 2018 ITV documentary The Queen’s Green Planet to mark the launch of the QGC project.

Both then aged 91, they discussed the late Queen spotted a young sapling bent over and quipped: "That one we won't look at because it doesn't seem to be doing very well.

"Are you sure that's meant to be like that?" she asked someone off camera, adding "somebody sat on it I think, at the garden party".

The pair strolled through the 40 acre gardens with the Queen telling the story of some of the trees planted by family members or for her children.