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 Attenborough, who like the monarch is 93 years old, was awarded
the Chatham House prize along with the BBC Studios Natural
History Unit for "the galvanizing impact" of the series, the
London-based international affairs think tank said.
The annual prize honors people or organizations deemed to have
made the most significant contribution to the improvement of
international relations.
"Your ability to communicate the beauty and vulnerability of our
natural environment remains unequalled as you – and your team –
have engaged and enthused many people, young and old, to
appreciate and preserve our world's oceans," the Queen told
Attenborough in a speech.
"For that we should all be thankful."
The monarch has been steadily cutting down on the number of her
public engagements and her appearance to present the prize is a
mark of the high esteem in which Attenborough is held.
The ceremony came shortly after the Queen's second son Prince
Andrew announced he would step back from public duties for the
foreseeable future amid widespread criticism of an interview he
gave BBC television at the weekend concerning his association
with the late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein.
DECADES OF NATURE PROGRAMMING
One of the best-known faces on British television, Attenborough
has been making nature programs since the 1950s.
The Blue Planet II series, which he narrated aged 91, achieved
the highest viewing figures on British television in 2017 and
was sold to broadcasters around the world, scoring high ratings
in many countries.
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Among other poignant scenes, it featured footage of albatrosses
unwittingly feeding their chicks plastic fished from the ocean and a
mother whale carrying a dead newborn calf, likely killed by plastic
contamination in the mother’s milk.
In the wake of the series, the issue of overuse of single-use
plastic leapt to the top of the news agenda in Britain.
Re-usable coffee cups became a common sight on the streets, plastic
straws disappeared from pubs and cafes, the government announced
measures to reduce plastic use and major retailers pledged to work
towards plastic-free packaging.
The issue has become more prominent on the international stage as
well. This year, G20 environment ministers agreed to adopt a new
implementation framework for actions to tackle marine plastic waste
on a global scale.
The EU has also voted to ban several single-use plastic items,
including straws, forks and knives, by 2021.
(Writing by Estelle Shirbon, additional reporting by Andy Bruce;
editing by Stephen Addison and Philippa Fletcher
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