28 February 2024 , 23:00
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Princess Charlotte and her two brothers, Prince George and Prince Louis, shared their passion for animals with Sir David Attenborough - and Charlotte revealed her favourite animal is one that many people fear.
The three children quizzed the national treasure on his favourite animal in a video from Kensington Palace in 2020 - and Charlotte revealed her liking for spiders. The then five-year-old princess told Sir David that she liked arachnids and he replied that he was a fan too. "I love spiders, I'm so glad you like them", he said.
"I think they're wonderful things. Why is it that people are so frightened of them? I think it's because they've actually got eight legs, which are much more than us, and if you've got eight legs you can move in any direction, so you can never be quite sure which way that spider's going to go.
"He could go this way or that way … so people don't like them, and they don't like their hairy legs either. But spiders are so clever. Have you ever watched one trying to build its web? That is extraordinary. How does it make a circular web like that attached to trees at either side or bits of vegetation? How do they do it? Try and watch and see how they do it, it's marvellous."
Prince Louis, then just two years old, asked Sir David what his favourite animal was, to which the broadcaster replied: "I think I like monkeys best, because they're such fun. They can jump all over the place, and they don't bite, at least… some do, but if you're a bit careful they don't bite. And they're so funny, and I like them a lot. Mind you, you can't have monkeys sitting around the home because that's not where they live, they live out in the forest."
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William and Catherine with their three children (Getty Images)Attenborough also weighed in on the endless dog or cat debate, revealing that he would choose a puppy over a kitten if he were to pick one to have as a pet. He gifted Prince George the tooth of a giant shark and the then seven-year-old asked him which species he thought would go extinct next. Sir David said in response: "Well, let's hope there won't be any, because there are a lot of things we can do when animals are in danger of extinction. We can protect them.
"About 40 years ago, I was with some mountain gorillas in the centre of Africa. Mountain gorillas were then very, very rare, there were only 250 of them left, and we showed pictures of them on television, and people thought how terrible it would be if these became extinct. So they subscribed lots of money and lots of people came to help, and now there are over a thousand of them. So you can save an animal if you want to and put your mind to it, people around the world are doing that, because animals are so precious – so let's hope there won't be any more that will go extinct."
Prince William, Catherine and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis meet Sir David Attenborough (PA)During an Instagram Live in 2021, Prince William also revealed Charlotte is a big unicorn fan after being asked if he thought they existed. He said: "Well, I think if you talked to my daughter, she'd say they were real," he laughed, before adding "Obviously, it's a trade secret so I can't possibly comment."
The little princess often sports unicorn accessories - such as when she attended school at Thomas's Battersea and on her bag there was a glittery sequin unicorn attached. Kids up and down the country have gone crazy for unicorns in the last few years, and they are featured on everything from clothing to bedroom wallpaper.
And while attending a charity polo match in Wokingham, Berkshire, in the summer of 2019, Charlotte posed with her family and representatives from the Army. In the cute snap, Charlotte was holding a tiny fluffy bag in the shape of a unicorn with black eyes and a silver horn.