Prince Louis heard for the first time as he quizzes David Attenborough alongside Prince George and Princess Charlotte

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have appeared in rare video footage to quiz Sir David Attenborough about extinction, spiders and the naturalist's favourite animals.

George, 7, Charlotte, 5, and Louis, 2, whose voices are rarely heard in public, asked the veteran broadcaster, 94, questions about the natural world in footage recorded at Kensington Palace last month.

The three children seem set to follow their father, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II's grandson, and their grandfather, Prince Charles, in pursuing environmental causes.

Pictured in a red school polo shirt, George says: "Hello David Attenborough, what animal do you think will become extinct next?", while his sister Charlotte, in a grey school dress, reveals she likes spiders. "Do you like spiders, too?," she asks.

Louis, whose voice is heard in public for the first time, asks: "What animal do you like?"

Last month, Attenborough was pictured in the gardens of Kensington Palace after joining the young family to watch an outdoor screening of his film David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet.

To celebrate the occasion, the naturalist gave George, who is third in line to the British throne, a fossilised 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’),” a post on the Kensington Royal Instagram page 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. Carcharocles is believed to have grown to 15 metres in length, which is about twice the length of the Great White, the largest shark alive today.”

But the gift sparked controversy when Malta asked for it to be returned. However, the country has since said the prince can keep it.