Back in 1995 when I worked at the Royal Army Medical College in Millbank, a stray cat turned up in our car park. He was quite fluffy, black and white and very friendly. I bought some food for him and arranged a "Kitty Kitty" collection from the staff so we could buy him food. He was nicknamed PC as he used to patrol the car park. I even took him to the Blue Cross in Victoria with another member of staff as he had a rodent ulcer on his nose. Until a few months later I came into work one Monday and the security chap yelled out "Ere Heather that cat of yours is famous".............. Apparently the night before on the News was an obituary for Humphrey the Downing Street Cat who was missing, presumed dead
And he was the spitting image of our "PC"...... a few phone calls later, a frantic hunt for the cat, who was found asleep in the soldiers sleeping quarters, a car and staff from Downing Street turned up, with a cat basket complete with red and gold velvet cushion; and after doing an "Identi-Kitty" he certainly was the missing Downing Street Moggy! As I was the person looking after him, the Chief of the Medical College nominated me for the TV and press, and I spent about an hour being filmed for various TV companies, I had to sit in the Porters Lodge,holding his empty cat dish and look sad. I was on 6 o'clock news, 10 o'clock news and others, was so so funny, but sad as we had all got used to our little furry friend. But he returned to Downing Street until John Major left and Tony Blair moved in and he was outed!
But that is not all
Fast forward 6 years or so, and I am working in the local Hospital and Tony Blair came to open our Conference Centre. All the staff sat around on tables, while he did the rounds, and we were allowed to ask questions about the state of the NHS blah blah blah......and i just couldn't resist, when he came and sat on our table, I said I had a question for him. Tony put on his biggest cheesy grin until I asked him.... "So why did you get rid of Humphrey the Cat, did Cherie not like him?" His face was a picture!!! He asked me why I wanted to know that, so I told him I was the one who rescued him when he went AWOL from Number 10. He then chatted to me for about 5 minutes and said Humphrey had been retired to the country as he wasn't in the best of health, had kidney problems but was living quite happily........ . Our conference centre was full of reporters from newspapers and they all fired questions at me afterwards!
and the next day in the papers there it was in black and white; in the Daily Express, Daily Mirror, The Times "Secretary accuses Tony Blair of "disposing" of Humphrey the Cat!
Sadly Humphrey did die about 6 years ago, he was about 18. Such a character he was, in the short time I knew him
