The Foreign and Commonwealth Office revealed details about some of the oddest queries it received in 2018, including a question about a famous dancing program and another about the movie, Braveheart. Among the oddest revealed queries were:
1. A caller in the US asking which contestant had been voted off Strictly Come Dancing the previous night.
2. A man asking where he should send a 5ft piece of wood he had found on a beach, which he thought may have come from an 18th-century British warship.
3. A caller in the Netherlands who had just watched Braveheart and had some questions about the plot.
4. A person in Italy asking the embassy to help arrange their wedding, recommend a florist and get them tickets to see the Pope.
5. A caller in the Canary Islands requesting that the Foreign Office persuade his hotel to give him a different room as a cat had “broken into” his existing one and urinated on his bed.
6. A man inquiring if there were vampires in Poland because a woman he had met online asked what blood type he was before they met for their first date.
7. A man in New Delhi asking what time the British High Commission opened, as he had heard it sold vegetarian sausages and wanted to buy some.
8. A man in Kuwait asking if any staff wanted to adopt his puppies.
9. A caller asking if the office could provide a list of women in Argentina he might be able to marry.
10. A man requesting staff speaks to a massage parlor in Bangkok on his behalf, as he had fallen asleep during a massage and felt he should not have to pay for it.
The Foreign Office said while it was unable to help with the types of problems listed above. Staff can help British people in trouble while they are abroad in a number of ways.
The FCO said it received more than 330,000 calls from British people who needed help in 2018. This included more than 3,400 who had been hospitalized and 4,900 who had been arrested. More than 29,600 emergency travel documents were issued to help those who had lost their passports.
In November, the BBC2 screened a documentary dubbed "Inside the Foreign Office," to highlight the work of the ministry's officials.
"Unfortunately, the State Department cannot give advice on vampires, rogue cats, or dance contestants. We also do not have the capacity to offer vegetarian sausages," said a State Department spokesman.
"However, I seriously stress that getting into problems outside homeland can be difficult and troubling. If you find yourselves in an emergency situation in any country, you should contact the nearest British embassy, high commission or consulate and will do our utmost to assist you," he added.
