Obama makes Westminster Abbey gaffe
A mistake by US President Barack Obama in the guest book of Westminster Abbey has caused a stir.
The President wrote a heartfelt note in the book during a half-hour visit to the Abbey, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge married last month, but appears to have dated the message "24 May 2008".
Mr Obama wrote: "It is a great privilege to commemorate our common heritage and common sacrifice."
His signature and that of his wife Michelle appears below, alongside the apparently incorrect date, which immediately caused a stir on social networking sites.
Apparently, Mr Obama was heard to ask the dean what the day's date was - but managed to get the year wrong.
A Westminster Abbey spokeswoman confirmed it was the president who had written the wrong date.
It is not the first gaffe the American President has made.
When he won the presidency, Mr Obama made a mistake during the oath he took at his inauguration ceremony, meaning he had to be sworn in for a second time to make it legal.
And he once gave then Prime Minister Gordon Brown a box set of classic American DVDs, which don't play on UK DVD players.
In 2009, the President made a joke on US TV's Tonight Show, hosted by Jay Leno, referring to a bad bowling game as "like the Special Olympics or something".
The President wrote a heartfelt note in the book during a half-hour visit to the Abbey, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge married last month, but appears to have dated the message "24 May 2008".
Mr Obama wrote: "It is a great privilege to commemorate our common heritage and common sacrifice."
His signature and that of his wife Michelle appears below, alongside the apparently incorrect date, which immediately caused a stir on social networking sites.
Apparently, Mr Obama was heard to ask the dean what the day's date was - but managed to get the year wrong.
A Westminster Abbey spokeswoman confirmed it was the president who had written the wrong date.
It is not the first gaffe the American President has made.
When he won the presidency, Mr Obama made a mistake during the oath he took at his inauguration ceremony, meaning he had to be sworn in for a second time to make it legal.
And he once gave then Prime Minister Gordon Brown a box set of classic American DVDs, which don't play on UK DVD players.
In 2009, the President made a joke on US TV's Tonight Show, hosted by Jay Leno, referring to a bad bowling game as "like the Special Olympics or something".
