Palmerston (cat)

Palmerston is the resident Chief Mouser of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) at Whitehall in London. The black and white bicolour cat began his role in the position of Chief Mouser on 13 April 2016. Previously, he was from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and is named after the former Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. He is employed at the King Charles Street building.[1]

Palmerston
Chief Mouser to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 April 2016
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson
Sec. of State	Philip Hammond Boris Johnson Jeremy Hunt Dominic Raab
Preceded by	Position established
Personal details
Born	2014 (age 5–6)
Nationality	British
Residence	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Occupation	Mouser
Gender	Male

The inception of the position of Chief Mouser at the FCO followed from the position Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, Larry and from visits from George Osborne's cat Freya who made regular visits to the office.[2]

Palmerston was in the news on 3 May 2016, as it was reported that he had caught his first mouse.[3] On 11 July 2016, Palmerston was caught on camera in a stand-off between himself and Larry in and around Downing Street.[4][5] On 26 July 2016, Palmerston was caught sneaking into Number 10, when the famous black door was left open. He was later evicted by resident police.[6] On 1 August 2016, a journalist caught Palmerston and Larry having a serious cat-fight, which led to Palmerston having damage to his ear and Larry losing his collar.[7]

In October 2017, Palmerston "appointed" his first overseas envoys. Lawrence of Abdoun, a rescued black-and-white street tomcat, was given a role at the British Embassy in Amman, Jordan and is named after British military officer T. E. Lawrence and the neighbourhood in Amman where the embassy is located.[8] Leyla Pixie, an orphaned kitten from Turkey, was adopted by the British Consulate General in Istanbul.[9]