Former Foreign Office cat Palmerston dies in Bermuda

"In February 2025, his social media account announced the cat had been brought out of retirement for a new overseas diplomatic posting nearly 3,500 miles away, as a "feline relations consultant (semi-retired) to the new Governor of Bermuda". Announcing his death, a post on the feline's X account paid tribute to the "Diplocat extraordinaire" who it said had "passed away peacefully on 12 February"."

"The black-and-white cat, who is named after the 19th-Century Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston, joined the diplomatic service in 2016. He moved out of the department's central London building during the Covid pandemic, before formally retiring in 2020. Announcing his retirement, a letter to Lord Simon McDonald, then the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, read that Palmerston had enjoyed climbing trees and patrolling the fields around his new home and wanted to spend more time "relaxing away from the limelight"."

""I have found life away from the frontline relaxed, quieter, and easier," the letter signed in Palmerston's name read. Palmerston's account claimed he had been "lured out of retirement" by "diplomacy and a purr-fect role" with Bermuda's governor, Andrew Murdoch, who he had been living with since his retirement - with news of his return a cause of celebration by many of the cat's 99,000 social media followers."

Palmerston, a black-and-white cat named after Viscount Palmerston, served as the Foreign Office's 'chief mouser' from 2016 until his formal retirement in 2020. He relocated from the department's central London building during the Covid pandemic and later lived with Bermuda's governor, Andrew Murdoch. In February 2025 he was briefly brought out of retirement for an overseas posting as a "feline relations consultant (semi-retired)". A post on his X account said he "passed away peacefully on 12 February". Retirement communications described him enjoying climbing trees, patrolling fields, and finding life away from the frontline "relaxed, quieter, and easier". He had about 99,000 social media followers.

Read at www.bbc.com