Sir David Attenborough earned over '£7,000 a minute' for latest shows

Sir David Attenborough reportedly earned £7,206 a minute for his latest TV shows.

The 97-year-old naturalist and legendary broadcaster - who celebrates his 98th birthday in May - is said to have quadrupled his earnings with a payday of around £4.2 million - with over £833,000 paid in tax - for the 12 months up to last September.

As reported by The Sun newspaper, accounts show a huge rise from the previous year when he pocketed £1.3 million.

Over the 12 months, he had four shows - 'Climate Change: Drought' on Amazon Prime Video, 'Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster' and 'Wild Isles' for BBC One, and Sky series 'Secret World of Sound' - which amounts to 578 minutes of television.

As well as his earnings, the recent filing reveals the beloved presenter has a cash pile of £2.3 million and assets worth £2.76 million.

Meanwhile, it's thought his David Attenborougu Productions company may also have still been receiving fees from work he did in 2021, including voiceovers and writing.

Last year, Sir David insisted less is actually more when it comes to what he can add to his wildlife shows without spoiling the magic.

He told BBC Wildlife Magazine: "You mustn't be too wordy.

"The one key, I think, is that a picture is more powerful than a spoken word, and if you give people the two things, the thing that they remember is the picture.

"You can’t ignore pictures. I don't think you could generalise, but you should remember that pictures are more powerful than words."

David also revealed that he often tosses his script aside in the recording booth to improve the shows.

He said: "Having written a commentary, the first thing to do is to carefully see what you can get rid of."