LONDON — Donald Trump’s appointment of his former boss on “The Apprentice” as his special envoy to Britain made for a headline-grabbing pick during his presidential transition. But Mark Burnett has made a quiet exit from the diplomatic world. 

The British-born Falklands veteran turned Hollywood producer left the role liaising between D.C. and London “around August,” his publicist in the entertainment world, Lina Catalfamo Plath, confirmed to POLITICO, noting it was the end of his term.

But Burnett’s departure from the diplomatic service hadn’t been publicized and he was still listed as special envoy on Buckingham Palace’s attendance list at the state banquet for the Trumps in Windsor on Sept. 17. 

Billionaire investment banker and Republican donor Warren Stephens arrived in London as U.S. ambassador in May, and has been actively involved in pushing Trump’s policy objectives.

“I don’t think there was room for both him and the ambassador,” one person who worked with Burnett in the diplomatic arena and granted anonymity to discuss the issue said this week.

The White House and the U.S. embassy in London are yet to respond to requests for comment.

There had long been concerns there would be “conflict and confusion” in having the two separate but hard to distinguish roles, as covered in a POLITICO profile of Burnett published in March.

“He speaks to the president a lot — they’re personal friends,” said one U.S. government official at the time, who was granted anonymity to discuss the nature of the special envoy’s role. “He will tell you that Trump used to work for him for 15 years,” the official added with a laugh.

As a producer in the largely MAGA-antithetical television industry, Burnett’s public relationship with Trump wasn’t always easy. Burnett faced heat over the existence of tapes of the Republican saying a deeply offensive racial epithet. The producer even distanced himself from the then-presidential candidate in 2016 after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape leaked.

While special envoy, Burnett was credited with helping present the British case to Trump over the Chagos deal with Mauritius, which has again come under pressure after Trump recently turned against it.

But his most showbiz moment in the role was when during a Downing Street meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer not long after Trump’s inauguration he was able to get the president on the phone for an impromptu chat. Two weeks later, the PM got his White House meeting with Trump, and Burnett was there too.