Why Prince George may be forced to give back his special gift from Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough recently presented Prince George with a giant shark tooth, but he may be forced to give it back to Malta - where it came from.

• Sir David Attenborough met Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at a private screening of his new documentary, A Life On Our Planet, at Kensington Palace
• But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's eldest child may be forced to give the fossil that Sir David gave him as a gift back to Malta
• In other royal news, this is why Princess Eugenie's baby and the Cambridge kids will be close growing up

The animal-loving legend found the rare fossil during a family holiday to Malta in the late 1960s, and gave it to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's eldest child when he visited Kensington Palace for a private screening of his new documentary, A Life on Our Planet.

The fossilised tooth was from the extinct Carcharocles megalodon – a giant species of shark that grew up to 16 metres and lived more than three million years ago.

George was pictured showing off his present to his younger brother, Prince Louis, and he looked fascinated by it.

But, sadly, he may have to give it back soon, as Malta’s culture minister Jose Herrera said he intends to "get the ball rolling" on repatriating the artefact.

He told the Times of Malta: ‘There are some artefacts that are important to natural heritage which ended up abroad and deserve to be retrieved."

The fossil was embedded in Malta’s soft yellow limestone, which was laid down during the Miocene period some 23 million years ago. Malta is a former British colony that got independence in 1964.

Sir David explained the reasoning for his gift to the Sunday Times: “When I was his age, I remember being given fossils by a grown-up, so I thought I would do the same.

At the private screening, Sir David also met Princess Charlotte and Louis - who Kate Middleton has previously confessed are "massive fans" of his, and he said meeting the three children was "charming”.

“[He asked] What it was? How big it was? And so on. He was certainly very interested. He seemed to like it. He is very interested in fossils.

“She [Charlotte] was too. All three seemed charming.”

He added: “It was a very nice domestic occasion.”