The wildlife documentaries that Prince Philip made for Anglia Television in the 1960s and 70s

  • Watch a report about the Duke of Edinburgh's wildlife documentaries for Anglia Television

The Duke of Edinburgh presented and appeared in three wildlife documentaries in Anglia Television's pioneering Survival series in the 1960s and 1970s.

Prince Philip was close friends with Aubrey Buxton, one of the founders of Anglia Television, and in 1971 they appeared together in a Survival programme made in Africa talking about the threats to wildlife from humans.

The film followed Prince Philip on safari to Lake Rudolf, now Lake Turkana in the Kenyan Rift Valley of Africa.

The Duke of Edinburgh driving across Africa with Anglia TV filmmaker Aubrey Buxton for a Survival documentary in 1971 Credit: Survival/Anglia Television

Aubrey Buxton's daughter Cindy followed in her father's footsteps as a wildlife documentary maker. She said Prince Philip saw what was happening to wildlife and the planet many years before it became a more widespread concern.

She said: “I think he was way ahead of time.  But one never really appreciates that until we get to that 50 years, which we’ve now got to and you then look at this and you think ‘Goodness’ how did he work that one out.”

The film in Africa wasn't the first time The Duke of Edinburgh had appeared in Survival programmes. He'd narrated a film in 1963 and in 1967 he introduced a documentary about the diverse wildlife of the Galapagos Islands.

The Duke of Edinburgh introduced an Anglia documentary about the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands in 1967

Cindy Buxton said: "There were few occasions where he and I would meet.  In my filming career I was very lucky to go to certain parts of the world which are difficult to get to.  And nine times out of ten Prince Philip would have been there as well - maybe via Britannia which is not the way I got there - but it was always nice because we could talk about a place.

“He always has been involved with the natural history side.  He loves walking into a hide and sitting there quietly with a pair of binoculars. 

"And not just seeing them and ticking the box but sitting down and watching them and learning a little bit about them, maybe seeing a little bit of behaviour.  He would enjoy that very much

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