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Sybil, the new cat in No.10 Downing Street
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Nearly a decade since Humphrey was shown the door to No. 10 Downing Street, the prime ministerial house has a cat in residence again.
Sybil, named after Basil's wife in the classic 1970s sitcom "Fawlty Towers," has moved down from Edinburgh with Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and his family who are living in the three-bedroomed flat above No. 10.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his wife Sarah and their two sons live in the bigger flat at Number 11 Downing Street, traditionally the home of the Chancellor.
Details on Sybil remain scant for the moment but she shares a thespian name with her predecessor -- Humphrey was named after Sir Humphrey Appleby in the "Yes Minister" political comedy show.
She also enjoys a distinct advantage over Humphrey in that she comes with the family rather than the house.
Humphrey, who died in March 2006, had walked into London's most powerful address as a stray late in Margaret Thatcher's premiership in 1989.
He lived there on and off during the John Major years as a passive Conservative ally but fell from grace after Labour's landslide election victory in May 1997.
Six months later Humphrey was gone, amid much newspaper speculation that new occupant Tony Blair's wife Cherie was behind the move.
"The Prime Minister doesn't have a problem with it (the cat). Sarah Brown doesn't have a problem with it," said Brown's spokesman Tuesday, confirming Sybil was now in residence.
Before Humphrey, the best known was Wilberforce who lived at No. 10 during the Edward Heath years, and who died in 1988.
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(Agencies) |
在漢弗萊被逐出唐寧街10號近十年后，英國首相官邸又迎來了一只“第一貓”。
這只名叫西碧爾的貓得名于上世紀70年代經典情景喜劇《弗爾蒂旅館》中巴茲爾的妻子。日前，它跟隨英國財政大臣阿里斯戴爾?達林一家從愛丁堡搬進了唐寧街10號的一套三居室公寓里。
戈登?布朗首相與夫人莎拉及他們的兩個兒子住在唐寧街11號的一套更大的公寓里。按照慣例這里是財政大臣的官邸。
目前有關西碧爾的具體情況了解的還不多，但她與首相府“前任”第一貓漢弗萊一樣，都得名于戲劇人物。漢弗萊得名于政治諷刺喜劇《是，首相》中的漢弗萊?阿波比爵士。
而且西碧爾比漢弗萊要幸福得多，她跟隨財政大臣一家入住唐寧街10號，而不是流浪至此。
漢弗萊于2006年3月去世。1989年，在撒切爾夫人擔任首相的后期，這只流浪貓被唐寧街10號收留。
撒切爾夫人離開唐寧街后，他繼續留在那“效忠”保守黨首相約翰?梅杰，直到1997年5月，工黨以壓倒性的勝利贏得大選之后，漢弗萊便失寵了。
新首相入主唐寧街六個月后，漢弗萊便失蹤了，這引起英國媒體的諸多猜測，很多人認為新任首相布萊爾的妻子切麗是漢弗萊失蹤的“幕后黑手”。
布朗的發言人于本周二稱：“布朗首相和夫人都很歡迎西碧爾的到來。”他還向外界確認西碧爾現已入住唐寧街10號。
在漢弗萊之前，最著名的“第一貓”是愛德華?希斯時代的威爾伯福斯，它于1988年去世。
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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