Theresa May's name misspelled in US memo

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Theresa MayImage source, Reuters

A White House schedule sent to journalists ahead of a press conference with US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May has misspelled her name.

The schedule referred to the prime minister three times as "Teresa May", leaving out the "h" in her first name.

The mistake happened after the prime minister addressed US politicians in Philadelphia on Thursday.

In her speech, Mrs May called for closer ties between the UK and US.

The press schedule, which was sent from the office of the new White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, originally said: "In the afternoon, the president will partake in a bilateral meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister, Teresa May."

Image source, White House
Image caption,

Part of the uncorrected White House schedule sent out on Friday.

It later repeated the mistake, saying: "The president participates in a working luncheon with Teresa May, Prime Minister of United Kingdom."

The same error was also made once in a guidance note from the office of Vice-President Mike Pence. The prime minister's name was, however, spelled correctly elsewhere in the same note.

The White House press office later sent out an updated guidance note with the correct spelling.

Image source, Twitter
Image caption,

The White House press secretary later tweeted about the day, including Theresa May's Twitter handle

Mrs May's speech on Thursday mentioned the "special relationship" between the UK and US eight times. The phrase is an unofficial term for the close cultural, historical and political relationship between the United States and the UK.

It was first coined by Prime Minister Winston Churchill - a political hero of the new American president - during a 1946 speech in Fulton, Missouri.

Mrs May's meeting on Friday will be the first between a foreign leader and President Trump.