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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

ARCHIVE / LARRY, THE UNIMPEACHABLE RESIDENT OF #10 DOWNING STREET


Larry, the resident cat of Number 10 Downing Street will remain with the new Prime Minister's household, but if the truth be known, Larry's has a testy relationship with the media as the catty press has captured images of the Chief Mouser in rather compromising situations.
One resident of Number 10 Downing Street in London stayed during this year’s change of British Prime Minsters from David Cameron to Theresa May.

Larry, the cat, however, isn’t going anywhere.  He belongs to the residence and not to any Prime Minister.  It has been that way since 2011 when Larry was brought home from London's Battersea Dogs and Cats Home for rescued animals.

Larry was brought in to fill the role of the UK’s official mouser.
When asked, the PM’s staff withheld any background on Larry thus forcing the provincial press to check British civil service records, plus a scan of Burke’s Peerage, where no mention of Larry was found.  But, he does dress rather smart in a Union Jack bowtie.

Pedigree aside, Larry enjoys the privileges of being a family member and resident of Number 10 Downing Street.

There are feline drawbacks.  Although, he has a good relationship with security agents guarding the Prime Minister’s residence, he is somewhat too short to reach the doorknocker.  He has to wait for assistance to enter.

Which brings up a testy situation, which left Larry rather miffed.  As a resident of Number 10 Downing Street he feels he should be accorded the same respect as other residents.  The offending event occurred recently when Larry couldn’t make up his mind to enter the front door or not, whereby he was eventually given a mindful nudge on his backside to get him through the door.

Of course, those snarky tabloid paparazzi caught the maneuver on camera. 


For security reasons we could not leave the front door open for Larry’s lack of decisiveness, said a reported missive from the PM’s PR staff.

Larry groused asking if security would have nudged the Prime Minister on the backside if she dallied too long at the door waving to the press.  No word has been forthcoming on the matter.

Before the change in PM households, there were whispers from the same catty British tabloids hinting Larry hasn’t caught a mouse since his arrival. To fend off the ugly rumors, Larry had a doctored photo of him stalking a mouse released to those media wolves.  For now, it seems to have worked.

But when mousing is slow (and for Larry it appears all the time) he has other duties such as supervising the laying down of the red carpet before important guests arrive.  He also is there to alert the staff of the arrival of world leaders, albeit, he feels miffed when important matters are discussed without his input.
Above: Larry straightens the carpet himself.
Below: Larry pointed out the carpet wasn't straight.


Recently, the Foreign Office next door added a new cat and named him Palmerson, after a vintage VIP.  During the recent Brexit debates, the two cats voiced opposite views of the proposal.  

Fur flying out side of Prime Minister's residence
Howls between the two were heard by media late at night along Downing Street.  No word as what position Larry took on Brexit, but he was overheard mentioning certain views to President Obama during the President’s recent visit.

Melissa, will you please ask him why there are no cats in the White House?
One of those late night debates with Palmerson might have caused one of Larry’s more embarrassing lapses because he dozed off in the middle of Downing Street.  The police were called in to remove Larry from dreamland.  And, again to the dismay of the household, the press caught the entire episode on camera.

"Yes, officer, I am a bit woozy would you mind taking me to the back door."

Number 10 household members are mum on whether Larry’s otherwise spotless record holds true inside the residence.  No comment to date on that delicate matter.

"Must I do everything around here?  Answer the door, it's President Putin.
All in all, Larry has made it through his first change of household albeit he does have a testy relationship with the press (insisting his privacy is being violated and he feels such media scrutiny will delay his Knighthood), but aside from that it appears all’s well with the Empire as it exists now in the paws of a cat.

Also:
Socks, the last White House cat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socks_(cat)

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