Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel death: What happened David Attenborough’s wife?

Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel, the wife of Sir David Attenborough, died of a brain haemorrhage in 1997.

Sir David Attenborough, a renowned naturalist, pacifist, and broadcaster who is regarded as a national treasure in the United Kingdom.

Jane Elizabeth was born on July 11, 1926 and she died on February 1997 at 70 years old.

Attenborough was 24 at the time, while Oriel is believed to have been around 23 when she said “I do”.

Originally from Merthyr Tydfil, a small Welsh town 37km north of the capital, Cardiff, Oriel moved with Attenborough to a home in Richmond Upon Thames in London.

Attenborough and Oriel were married for 47 years, and likely would have remained together many more, when tragedy struck in 1997.

While filming his documentary The Life of the Birds in New Zealand, Attenborough got the terrible news that his beloved wife had collapsed.

Attenborough flew home immediately to find his wife alive but in a coma. Jane collapsed with a brain hemorrhage.

David spoke to her and held her hand at the hospital. He spent that evening with her, but unfortunately, she passed away the next day.

David Attenborough then wrote: “The focus of my life, the anchor had gone … Now I was lost”.