Attenborough married actress Jane Seymour in 1971; the marriage was dissolved in 1973. In 1984 he married actress Karen Lewis. They have two sons: theatre director Tom Attenborough (born 13 October 1986) and actor Will Attenborough (born 26 June 1991). One of his two younger sisters, Jane Holland, was killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 along with her mother-in-law and Attenborough’s 15-year-old niece, Lucy. His other sister, Charlotte, is a teacher with two children.

In 2012 Attenborough was presented with the Award for Excellence in International Theatre by The International Theatre Institute

In October 2012, he announced that, after 12 years as Artistic Director, he would step down from the Almeida in April 2013 to concentrate on his directing career.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to theatre. He is the recipient of Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Leicester, where he is a Distinguished Honorary Fellow and Sussex, where he is also Honorary Professor of English and Drama.

Recently he has directed Macbeth for the Queensland Theatre Company, Brisbane, Australia (March – April 2014) As You Like It for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. (2014), a UK national tour of J.B. Priestley’s Dangerous Corner in 2014 and a new play by Deborah Bruce (Godchild) in October – November 2013 at the Hampstead Theatre. He directed a new play by Rebecca Gilman (Luna Gale) for the Hampstead Theatre. In September 2015, he directed Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me for the Chichester Festival Theatre, then returned to Hampstead Theatre to direct the UK premiere of Neil LaBute’s Reasons To Be Happy. Most recently he was appointed Director Emeritus of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He teaches there on a regular basis, as well as at three Universities – Sussex, Leicester and St Mary’s.