Goodbye: diplomatic cat Palmerston resigns

Icon: enlarge

Palmerston keeps watch (archive photo): Diplomatic cat retired

The farewell comes unexpectedly: In a letter, Palmerston, the cat of the British Foreign Office, says goodbye to retirement.

Black and white Palmerston, also known as Chief Mouser, posted a suicide note on Twitter saying, "After four years, the time has come for me. Now I can spend more time out of the spotlight and relax . "

Palmerston, named after a long-time chief diplomat from the 19th century, addressed his letter to the State Department's top diplomat, Simon McDonald, and signed it with two paw prints.

Because of the corona virus, he started to work in the home office - but he was also very diligent there. Now he wants to take life more calmly: "I find life away from the front row more comfortable, calmer and easier," says the letter.

"I enjoyed climbing trees and patrolling the fields around my new home in the country." It was regrettable, however, that he could no longer eavesdrop on foreign diplomats, the letter said.

Palmerston had been spotted making appearances by politicians on London's Downing Street many times over the past four years. Originally he came from an animal shelter. The black and white cat has more than 105,000 followers on Twitter. The account is operated by employees of the Foreign Ministry.

He had fought turf wars now and then with his counterpart Larry from the prime minister's residence, which is next door.

Larry even has 390,000 followers and likes to express himself critical of the government - when he said goodbye to Palmerston, Larry's account said: "Enjoy your retirement, old friend."

kha / dpa