--- title: EU Summit Theresa May Photo Inspires Hilarious Lonely memes description: The British prime minister is getting lampooned online for a photo taken of her alone at a conference table in Brussels. canonical: https://time.com/4991476/theresa-may-lonely/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-20T17:57:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:48:11.125Z og:title: The Internet Has Jokes About This Lonely Theresa May Photo og:description: "Hello darkness, my old friend" og:url: https://time.com/4991476/theresa-may-lonely/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Has Jokes About This Lonely Theresa May Photo twitter:description: "Hello darkness, my old friend" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # A Photo of Lone Theresa May Arrived. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=17048d6b-650a-44c1-a698-d462d93fabeb&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 20, 2017 5:57 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 20, 2017 5:57 PM UTC Theresa May can’t catch a break. First she powers through [an often-interrupted speech](http://time.com/4968737/theresa-may-memes/) to her Conservative Party. And now? A photo of the British Prime Minister sitting alone at a large conference table in Brussels on Friday is going viral, thanks to her look in the moment. (Those tastefully minimalist flower arrangements only add to the austere vibe.) Naturally, the internet has [plenty of jokes](https://twitter.com/i/moments/921362445586837504) for the politician; the [Brexit parallels](http://time.com/4952988/britain-theresa-may-brexit-two-years-implementation-period/) were too real for the internet to ignore. Some are captioning the photo with classic Simon & Garfunkel lyrics: “Hello darkness, my old friend,” indeed. Others are noting just how lonely she looks. “This latest #TheresaMay #Brexit photo reminds me of when me and my mates arrange to meet in the pub at 8 and I get there at five past…” one Twitter user noted; relatable content. And still others are imagining this image as it might be used on a TV show or a movie, as it does have a distinctly cinematic look to it. The takeaway: May’s team might want to work on surrounding her with better photo ops. May was in Belgium for [an EU summit](http://time.com/4696437/european-union-future-maastricht/). And for what it’s worth, other photos from the day show that May was joined at this very same table by representatives of the European Council, including the Council’s President Donald Tusk, shortly after the image was snapped. She was just early. Check out some of the funniest reactions, below. > [](https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/921314680928460801) > [](https://twitter.com/AmanTsays/status/921322191404269569) > [](https://twitter.com/andy%5Fhoole/status/921331958273028096) > [](https://twitter.com/Cassiesmyth/status/921308815273885697) > [](https://twitter.com/TobyonTV/status/921313436193185793) > [](https://twitter.com/BeardedGenius/status/921315451845660673) > [](https://twitter.com/michaelsavage/status/921308265623048192) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4991476/theresa-may-lonely/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4991476/theresa-may-lonely/"},"headline":"A Photo of Lone Theresa May Arrived. 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