Charlie (parrot)
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Charlie (born c. 1899), also known as Charlie the Curser, is a blue and gold female macaw living at Heathfield Nurseries, a pet sanctuary in Reigate, Surrey, United Kingdom. Charlie became famous when The Daily Mirror published an article about her in January 2004.
According to the bird's owner, Peter Oram, the 100+ year-old macaw was the property of Sir Winston Churchill while he was Prime Minister during World War II. Oram claims that his father-in-law, Percy Dabner, sold the parrot to Churchill in 1937 and then reclaimed the bird shortly after Churchill's death in 1965. Per the stories, the vocal bird was taught by Churchill to shout curses at Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, to the chagrin of officials within the British government. Reportedly, Charlie still repeats the phrases "Fuck the Nazis!" and "Fuck Hitler!", even managing to duplicate the distinctive inflections of Churchill's voice. Officials at the nursery indicate that she does not speak very much anymore at her advanced age, rendering verification difficult.
Oram's claims have been solidly rejected by the administrators of the Chartwell property, Churchill's former country home, who have no record of any parrot. Further, Churchill's only surviving daughter, Lady Soames, has denied her father ever owning a macaw. According to Soames, Churchill did in fact own an African Grey parrot named Polly, but sold the bird before assuming the role of Prime Minister.
References
- The original article from the Daily Mirror, January, 2004 (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13832640_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-F----THE-NAZIS--SAYS-CHURCHILL-S-PARROT-name_page.html)
- Article questioning the bird's authenticity, from the International Herald Tribune, March 2004 (http://www.iht.com/articles/509333.html)