Late Queen and David Attenborough named Britain’s greatest cultural figures

Queen Elizabeth II, Sir David Attenborough and James Bond have been named the most popular British cultural figures in a survey.

The late monarch was named Britain’s greatest ‘cultural icon’ of the past 90 years, with 41% selecting her in a survey to mark the 90th anniversary of the British Council, Britain’s international organization for cultural relations.

Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David came a close second with 40% of the votes going to him, followed by Diana, Princess of Wales, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

Nearly half (48%) said Sir David was the greatest living British figure, followed by music veteran Sir Elton John (20%) and Sir Paul McCartney (19%).

Dame Judi Dench and Catherine, Princess of Wales also proved popular with 16% of the vote each.

British MI6 agent Bond was voted Britain’s greatest “fictional icon” of the past 90 years with 42%.

Other fictional characters on the list included Harry Potter (34%), Only Fools And Horses’ Del Boy (27%), and Paddington Bear and Doctor Who (both 25%).

Nelson Mandela was voted the world’s most important non-British cultural icon of the past 90 years, with 29% voting for him, followed by Elvis Presley (28%) and Albert Einstein (25%).

It was a tight race for the best British albums of the past 90 years, with Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, both selected by more than a fifth of people (21%).

JRR Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings series was voted the best fiction novel written by a British author in the last 90 years (31%), while Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting was voted the best British film (20%)

The creation of the NHS was considered the most important British cultural moment of the past nine decades (42%), and the end of the Second World War was voted the most important global cultural moment.

Scott McDonald, CEO of the British Council, said: “Over our 90-year history we have brought the work of hundreds of writers, musicians, artists and performers to audiences around the world, from acting greats Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh on an Australian tour in 1948 to British artist John Akomfrah who presented his work at this year’s Venice Biennale.

“The international connections we build through arts and culture transform lives, create positive change and support our vision of a more peaceful and prosperous world.”

– OnePoll surveyed 2,500 people online on behalf of the British Council between July 18 and 25. All but one question asked participants to select up to five choices from a given list.