Caroline Davies,
Questions raised in Malta over Prince George's shark tooth gift from David Attenborough Guardian Mon 28 Sep 2020. Seven year old Prince George of the British royal family met Sir David Attenborough in the gardens of Kensington Palace last week, and the environmentalist presented him with a giant prehistoric shark tooth that he had found on a family holiday to Malta more than 50 years ago
But the kindly gesture caused consternation in Malta, a British colony until 1964 [...] The Maltese culture minister, José Herrera, reportedly pledged to investigate if the tooth should, in fact, be returned for display on the island where it was originally excavated (sic). [...] Asked by the Times of Malta whether there were plans to add the tooth to the nation’s heritage collection, Herrera said he would “get the ball rolling”.
“There are some artefacts that are important to Maltese natural heritage, which ended up abroad and deserve to be retrieved,” he said.
The tooth was of the Miocene/Pliocene shark Carcharocles megalodon, that are
relatively common fossils in many locations (and rock fairs).
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George (seated), Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with Sir David Attenborough (L) in the gardens of Kensington Palace. Photograph: Kensington Palace/AFP/Getty Images
Late on Monday, however, Malta’s culture ministry appeared to row back from the threat to Prince George’s keepsake. A spokesperson said: “The minister’s initial comments were based on the related national legislation in particular the Cultural Heritage Act, 2002 which superseded the previous legislation being the Antiquities (Protection) Act of 1910 and the Antiquities (Protection) Act of 1925. The minister would like to note that with reference to this case, it is not the intention to pursue this matter any further.”
In most countries, the ministry of culture is rarely given to any bright politician. The export of this item took place before the 2002 legislation.
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