Picture doesn’t show Theresa May, Ursula von der Leyen and Angela Merkel together as teenagers

A photo of three teenage girls is being shared on Facebook alongside captions that suggest the people in the photo are the former chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, the former UK Prime Minister, Baroness Theresa May and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

But this isn’t correct. While the photo does depict a young Mrs Merkel, it does not show Baroness May or Ms von der Leyen.

While the captions suggest Ms von der Leyen is in the image, the headshot on the right hand side, underneath the photo, is not of her either—it shows the former president of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė.

We’ve seen the same black and white image shared before, but with claims that Ms Grybauskaitė is pictured, rather than Ms von der Leyen. The Lithuanian Embassy in London has previously told us that Ms Grybauskaitė was not in the photo.

As we said then, the image shows Ms Merkel (furthest left) on New Years Eve in 1972, according to Time Magazine. Other photos of Baroness May as a teenager, including one taken at school in 1971, bear no resemblance to either of the other girls pictured in the posts, so we’re confident it is not her.

A photo of Ms von der Leyen as a teenager also does not resemble either of the two other girls in the image, and the European Commission confirmed to Full Fact that she is not pictured here with Mrs Merkel.

It’s also worth noting that Ms von der Leyen has never been the leader of a country, as the text on the image suggests, though she was a member of Mrs Merkel’s cabinet. We can also find no evidence that the three women knew each other when they were children.

Mrs Merkel grew up in East Germany, while Baroness May grew up in rural Oxfordshire. As a teenager, Ms von der Leyen lived in Hanover, Lower Saxony, which was in West Germany.

False or misleading claims online have the potential to harm individuals, groups and democratic processes and institutions. Online claims can spread fast and far, and are difficult to contain and correct.