Prince William: A Planet For Us All

William: I've always loved nature.

-Oh, there. Here. -There you go.

Brilliant. Look at that.

But fatherhood has given me a new sense of purpose.

Now I've got george, charlotte, and now louie.

Your outlook does change.

You want to hand over to the next generation

the wildlife in a much better condition.

So two years ago...

Is that alright?

...A film crew joined me...

No worries -- quick bit of well-done footage

and a cup of tea, perfect.

...On my search for ways to protect the natural world.

Oh, look at that worm. Where did you find him?

You know, they don't like being in your hand 'cause of the heat.

Catherine: Do you all care about the environment?

Is this something you learn at school?

I've always believed it's possible

to give the young people hope...

Whoa.

...And belief that things can get fixed.

It's been quite a journey.

Amazing places...

We'd love to come here and show our children.

You can impress george with your geography knowledge.

Finally my geography chat is useful.

...Inspiring people.

A recognized face.

Good morning.

The children were very upset that we were coming to see you

and they weren't coming.

They're massive fans of yours.

Attenborough: Kids know an awful lot

about what's happening to the world.

It's very remarkable.

I don't want to have a sea empty of all these amazing animals.

William: There's been much to smile about...

If you lived in the bugingham palace, what bug would you be?

I would be the queen bee.

You'd be the queen bee, I'm sure.

-This is pacha. -Pacha. Hi, pacha.

You look like trouble. You're like my little charlotte.

...And moments that I found haunting.

It's just a mind-blowing number of tusks.

Above all, it's opened my eyes and given me hope.

This is where the horn belongs -- on a live rhino.

That's where it should stay.

Quickly, get the rhino before it goes.

Somebody has to put their head above the parapet

and say, "I care about this."

I have belief that if we all work together,

we can make a difference.

There you are.

That's probably the first-ever reed warbler you've handled.

It is. I think he's ready to go.

Yeah. Okay.

There you are.

captions paid for by discovery communications

narrator: Sandringham, the queen's norfolk estate,

is a place where prince william feels especially at home.

growing up, he often explored it.

it's like a slice of the british countryside in miniature.

There are ancient woodlands...

...Working farms...

...Even a stretch of wild coast.

William: There's quite a few places on sandringham that I love.

Favorite spots like this.

Just get peace and quiet, time to think.

And the views are stunning.

can hear all the birds. So nice.

Here the oystercatchers?

they're cool. Got a nest 'round here.

Beautiful birds, the oystercatchers.

it takes me back to my childhood hearing that noise.

Narrator: As a young boy, prince william

developed a deep connection with the natural world,

one he now shares with his own children.

William: Seeing my children, seeing the passion in their eyes

and their love for being outdoors.

They find a bug or they love watching

how bees are forming the honey.

George particularly, if he's not outdoors,

he's quite like caged animal.

He needs to get outside.

Narrator: His children's passion for nature is no surprise.

It's in their genes.

William: My grandfather, my father have been

in the conservation and the environmental world

for many years.

My grandfather was well ahead of his time,

my father ahead of his time.

I really want to make sure that in 20 years,

george doesn't turn 'round and say,

"were you ahead of your time?"

because if he does, we're too late.

I thought about that the other day, and I just thought,

you know, three generations of the same family

saying the same thing.

When will we see the action that everyone so desperately needs

and wants?

narrator: Birkenhead might seem

an unlikely place to find answers.

But today, the duchess of cambridge

is naming a ship after a man

who perhaps has done more for nature than anyone.

it gives me great pleasure to name this ship

sir david attenborough.

And may god bless her and all those who sail in her.

narrator: Sir david has had a great influence

over prince william's family

and is a personal mentor to him.

Sir david has been a voice for the environment

for many, many years.

He's been a fantastic inspiration.

A recognized face.

Good morning.

Nice to see you.

Very nice to see you.

What do you think?

I hope they'll do something about the floor.

The floor, exactly. Yes.

The children were very upset that we were coming to see you

and they weren't coming.

They're massive fans of yours.

They watch all your programs, honestly.

Do they? They watch your programs, yeah.

Honestly, absolutely fascinated by it, yeah.

I've got them quite onto the african ones,

'cause they're quite fond of africa,

but they love all the programs.

Narrator: Like sir david, his oceangoing namesake

is destined to unearth nature's biggest secrets

in the remotest corners of the planet.

The british antarctic survey

hope it will help them better understand the climate crisis.

The polar regions are really the most sensitive areas

of the planet to climate change.

The british antarctic survey

have been monitoring changes in antarctica

for many, many, many years.

We can see that the ice really is thinning

and it's cracking.

The glaciers, they've shrunk and they've retreated.

It's very difficult to predict just what it is

that is going to be the key thing.

So, for example, the discovery of the ozone hole in 1986,

they weren't looking for that.

They were just -- no, I mean,

they were just doing their standard surveys,

and then they noticed this hole.

That rang the warning bell,

and that was the british antarctic survey.

We know that a lot of the ice shelf

in the western part of the antarctic is melting.

It's actually a good way, as well, to connect the public

to the amazing research and to the environment like that

that they might not be familiar with.

Well, that is so.

And the public is becoming extraordinarily well-informed,

in fact, it seems to me.

I mean, kids know an awful lot now about ecology

and about what's happening to the world,

and it's very remarkable.

I wonder who's taught them so much about it.

They have.

Every generation, you know, after yours, david,

has grown up listening

and seeing all the things that you've shown them,

and hopefully generation listens a little bit more.

-Hi, everybody. -Hi.

-What's your name? -Yasemin.

Hello, yasemin. You're?

George: I think I need to be, like, a scientist.

I want to try and help the polar ice caps,

to stop them from melting.

And do you know where it's going?

To the antarctic.

Oscar: They will see penguins and killer whales,

but it's really cold,

so, like, you can get frostbite, apparently.

Catherine: I wonder what they're going to discover.

They could discover things they don't even know about.

I'll be distraught for all the penguins

to just lose their environment

'cause they need the antarctic to survive.

This is 85,000 years old, this piece of ice.

Now we can tell what the atmosphere was like

85,000 years ago.

What sort of things would be breathing air

that's in the ice of 85,000 years ago?

-Dinosaurs. -Saber-toothed tigers.

-Yeah, saber-toothed tigers. -Saber-toothed tigers.

There you go.

So that ice you saw of 85,000 years ago,

the air that was in there was being breathed

by saber-toothed tigers.

How cool is that?

And woolly mammoths.

Woolly mammoths.