London: Britain’s top feline diplomat has come out of retirement for a new, purr-fect’ job.
Palmerston, former chief mouser at the Foreign Office, is now the UK’s chief four-legged representative in Bermuda.
The news, posted Wednesday on Palmerston’s official DiploMog account on social network X, comes more than four years after it was announced that he was retiring from public life to a “quieter and easier” life in the countryside.
On retirement, Palmerston was adopted by Foreign Office diplomat Andrew Murdoch, who has now been appointed governor of Bermuda, a tiny British territory in the mid-Atlantic.
“Diplomacy and a purr-fect role have lured me out of retirement,” the post said. “I’ve just started work as feline relations consultant (semi-retired) to the new Governor of Bermuda. I’ve been busy meeting very welcoming Bermudians.” The Foreign Office said Palmerston “will attend only the meetings he deems important, offering advice when necessary and indulging in well-earned naps.” Palmerston, who is named after the longest-serving British Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, arrived in government in April 2016 as a rescue cat. He was regarded with affection and showered with treats by Foreign Office staff, occasionally bringing them dead mice in return.
He had less-than-smooth diplomatic relations with Larry, cat-in-residence at nearby 10 Downing Street. The two were sometimes seen fighting in the street outside the British prime minister’s home.
Larry continues to reign as “Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office,” a post he has held since 2011 under six prime ministers.
