Although Britain’s Prince George celebrated his seventh birthday on July 22, David Attenborough seemingly gifted him a belated present last week– a prehistoric shark tooth. However, it appears Prince Willam and Kate Middleton’s eldest son may have to return his newly acquired gift.
On Sunday, Kensington Palace announced that Attenborough, a historian and naturalist, had visited the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children earlier in the week for an outdoor screening of his upcoming film, “David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet.”
When Attenborough arrived at the royal residence, he wasn’t empty-handed. The palace shared photos of Attenborough with William, Kate, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis on Instagram. In two of the photos, George can be seen holding on to a large shark tooth.
“When they met, Sir David gave Prince George a tooth from a giant shark, the scientific name of which is carcharocles megalodon (‘big tooth’),” the caption read. “Sir David found the tooth on a family holiday to Malta in the late 1960s, embedded in the island’s soft yellow limestone which was laid down during the Miocene period some 23 million years ago.”
Now, Prince George’s historic gift is being criticized by Maltese Culture Minister José Herrera who believes the shark tooth belongs in a local museum. He said he plans to “get the ball rolling” to have the fossil returned.
“There are some artifacts that are important to Maltese natural heritage and which ended up abroad and deserve to be retrieved,” Herrera told the Times of Malta.
Herrera insisted that he is dedicated to preserving the history of Malta, which was a British colony until 1964.
“We rightly give a lot of attention to historical and artistic artifacts. However, it is not always the case with our natural history. I am determined to direct a change in this attitude,” he said.
Herrera has not shared details about what steps will be taken to gain ownership of the artifact.