DEAR PM.. THATCHER HAS DIED; Canadian diplomatic panic sparked by text about a cat.Byline: Mark McGivern A T E X T r e a d i n g "Thatcher has died" sent Canada into a diplomatic panic - until they realised it was about a cat. The message was sent by the country's transport minister, who named his beloved moggy moggy term of endearment addressed to a cat. after his political heroine. But officials thought it referred to the demise of former British PM Maggie Thatcher, now 84. And they quickly told Canada's Conservative PM Stephen Harper, who was attending a gala bash in Toronto. As confusion spread, calls to puzzled officials at 10 Downing Street Downing Street, Westminster, London, England. On the street are the British Foreign Office and, at No. 10, the residence of the first lord of the Treasury, who is usually (although not necessarily) the prime minister of Great Britain. and Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace (bŭk`ĭng-əm), residence of British sovereigns from 1837, in Westminster metropolitan borough, London, England, adjacent to St. James's Park. were made. And embarrassed aide Di m i t r i Soudas had already started preparing an official statement mourning the passing of the Iron Lady. Healthy But he was told that Baroness Thatcher - who j u s t a f e w d a y s a g o attended a Remembrance Day service at London's Westminster Abbey - was alive and healthy. Soudas is reported to have said of the 16-yearold grey tabby: "If the cat wasn't dead, I'd have killed it by now." CAPTION(S): STILL ALIVE: Thatcher |
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