Meet Sir David Attenborough's late wife who he was married to for nearly 5 decades

Sir David Attenborough is widely recognised as one of the UK's most beloved nature presenters, and the star will be turning 100 in just a matter of days. Although nature is one of the loves of David's life, his true love was his late wife, Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel, who he was married for nearly half of his life.

The pair walked down the aisle in 1950, and during their happy marriage they welcomed two children. However, Jane sadly died at the age of 70, 47 years after walking down the aisle with the naturalist. David was away from his wife filming when he learned of her ill health, and he rushed back, staying by her side until she passed away.

Here's everything you need to know about Sir David's late wife…

Marriage

© PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Jane grew up in the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil, later moving to Richmond-upon-Thames following her marriage to David. Not much is known about how the couple first crossed paths, but the pair married in 1950.

Children

Sir David and Jane welcomed two children during their relationship: son Robert and daughter Susan. However, due to his commitments to filming, which often took him abroad, David missed out on parts of their childhood.

In 2017, the Planet Earth presenter reflected: "If I do have regrets, it is that when my children were the same age as your children, I was away for three months at a time. If you have a child of six or eight and you miss three months of his or her life, it's irreplaceable; you miss something."

© PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

In an interview with Woman's Day ahead of his 100th birthday, he added: "All my travels did take me away from home a lot. Maybe I should have been there more for my family and my children. My children still tease me about it now. I’m sorry that I missed some parts of their lives."

These days, Robert is a lecturer in bioanthropology, while Susan works for her father, following in her late mother's footsteps, who had a similar role. Before joining her father in the industry, Susan was the head of a primary school.

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Jane's death

In 1997, while filming in New Zealand for The Life of Birds, David was informed that Jane, 70, had fallen into a coma following a brain haemorrhage. The broadcaster rushed back to be by his wife's side, and she died while David was present.

Writing in his 2010 memoir, David said that Jane "gave [his] hand a squeeze" before passing away. Speaking of the impact of Jane's death, he wrote: "The focus of my life, the anchor had gone… now I was lost."

© Evening Standard

The 99-year-old still lives in their Richmond home, previously telling the Daily Mail: "What would be the point? I would be leaving the home we made together, the garden we built up. I think it's probably sentimental. This house is all bound up with her. I feel her here as much as anywhere."

Speaking to the Radio Times, he shared: "You accommodate things… you deal with things. I'm quite used to solitude in the wilds, but, no, an empty house is not what I enjoy. But my daughter's there. In moments of grief – deep grief – the only consolation you can find is in the natural world."

© PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

It was David's work with the natural world that helped him overcome his grief for his late wife, telling the Telegraph in 2011: "I did cope by working, and again it was just the most fantastic luck that I was able to."