"I was in the middle of a series when my wife died." Inside David Attenborough's 47 year marriage.

Sir David Attenborough is best know for his iconic storytelling voice, eye-opening documentaries and love for the natural world. 

But the 94-year-old also had another great love in his lifetime. 

The award-winning narrator and natural historian, who recently released a new Netflix documentary, was once in a relationship with a woman named Jane Elizabeth Ebsworth Oriel.

The couple enjoyed 47 years of marriage together before Oriel passed away at the age of 70. 

Watch the trailer for Netflix's David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet. Post continues below. 

Since then, Attenborough has not remarried and instead focused on his commitment to conservation and educating people about the current threats to our environment. 

Here's a look back at Attenborough and Oriel's relationship timeline.  

David Attenborough's wedding. 

While not much is known about how Attenborough and Oriel met, we do that the couple tied the knot back in 1950. 

Attenborough was just 24 at the time and Oriel was believed to have been 23.

The pair ended up moving into a home together in Richmond Upon Thames in London and went on to welcome two kids, Robert and Susan. 

David Attenborough with Jane Oriel and his younger brother Richard Attenborough at St. Anne's Church, Kew Green. Image: Getty. David Attenborough's Family life.

As a famous broadcaster, Attenborough's career has seen him travel all over the world. But in doing so, the 94-year-old had to miss out on "irreplaceable" family time over the years.

In 2017, he told documentary maker Louis Theroux, "If I do have regrets, it is that when my children were the same age as your children, I was away for three months at a time."

"If you have a child of six or eight and you miss three months of his or her life, it’s irreplaceable; you miss something." 

Attenborough said that his absence would often become the butt of family jokes.

"There used to be family jokes," he explained. "You know, 'You were never there. You don't remember that, Father, do you, because you weren't there!'"

David Attenborough with his six-year-old son Robert, daughter Susan and wife Jane. Image: Getty. These days, his children, who are both in their 50s, have continued to live a private life away from the spotlight. 

According to The Sun, Susan is a former primary school headmistress and still lives in the UK.

Robert on the other hand, is a senior lecturer in biological anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra.

David Attenborough's wife's death. 

In 1997, Attenborough traveled to New Zealand to film his documentary The Life of the Birds. But while he was away, he received the tragic news that his wife has collapsed. 

Oriel had suffered a brain haemorrhage at 70 years old and Attenborough rushed home to be by her side. Thankfully, he was able to make it to her before she passed. 

He later wrote about his wife's final moments in his 2010 memoir Life On Air, when he recalled wondering if she'd respond if he held her hand while she was in a coma. 

"She did, and gave my hand a squeeze," he wrote. 

"The focus of my life, the anchor had gone… now I was lost." 

David Attenborough and Jane Oriel. Image: Getty. In 2009, Attenborough shared that he still lived in the same London home he raised his kids in with Oriel. 

"This house is all bound up with her. I feel her here as much as anywhere," he told the Daily Mail.

"The thing is, when you go around the house, you know that, no matter how many doors you open, there is not going to be anybody there, and that's a pity."

After losing his wife of 47 years, Attenborough took time off from broadcasting. But he later explained that returning to work helped him through the difficult time.

"I was in the middle of a series when my wife died. I took time off, of course, but there was an obligation there. There were things to do," he told the Daily Mail.

"What is important is that there are people around who say to you, 'Look, we desperately need you, you know. We do desperately want you to write that script. Could you possibly do that?'"

"It is a great relief when there is somebody driving you to get on with things."

You can watch David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet on Netflix now. 

Feature Image: Getty.