Queen puts on brave face as she presents Sir David Attenborough with top award moments after Prince Andrew announcement

The Queen put on a brave face tonight as she presented her old friend Sir David Attenborough with a top international award, moments after her son the Duke of York announced he was stepping back from public life.

The monarch, 93, arrived at Chatham House just 24 minutes after Buckingham Palace issued the bombshell statement from Prince Andrew following days of media scrutiny over his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

She showed no sign of strain and seemed delighted to present Sir David and Julian Hector, head of the BBC Natural History Unit, with the Chatham House Prize for 2019 for their work to highlight ocean plastic pollution.

Her visit to the Royal United Services Institute had not been announced in advance there were gasps of surprise and delight as she was introduced to the audience in the packed Joseph Gaggero Hall.

And there was laughter as she told the TV legend: “Sir David, this award recognises your many talents and one can’t help but feel that, for those of us of a certain generation, we can take great pleasure in proving age is no barrier to being a positive influence.”

The annual prize recognises the person, people or organisation deemed to have made the most significant contribution to improving international relations in the previous year.

Sir David and the BBC were honoured for “the galvanising impact of the Blue Planet II series on tackling ocean plastic pollution.”

The Blue Planet II series highlighted the damage caused by discarded plastics to the world’s oceans and marine wildlife. It is estimated that there are more than 150 million tonnes of plastic in the world’s oceans; resulting in the deaths of 1 million birds and 100,000 sea mammals each year.

Accepting the award, Sir David said: “Never has there been a greater need for international cooperation on international solutions. They won’t be easy to win.

“Politicians have to look to the people who elect them who assume that they will be number one on the list. That cannot remain to be so.

“We are citizens of the world and they must recognise that. And international cooperation, which is the subject of this organisation is of paramount importance.

“If this international organisation considers what we have done in the Natural History Unit has in some way helped spread an awareness of the problems that face the world, that in some way will convince the population of the world that we all belong to one world and just the one world belongs to us, then this award pleases me more than I can say, I am most grateful for it, thank you.”