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(Issue 1) Writing a job title or an office name with a capital letter.
A job title (e.g., president, judge, director) or the name of an office (parliament, court, accounts
section) is given a capital letter when it refers to a specific person or office, i.e., when it's a proper
noun. So, when the definite article (i.e., "the") appears before such a title or name, there's a
pretty good chance you'll need a capital letter.

Here's the guidance: If the job title or office name is being used for its dictionary definition, i.e., as
a common noun, then don't use a capital letter. However, if the job title or office name nails it
down to one specific person or office, then use a capital letter. Look at these examples:

 The King was a king among kings.
(The King specifies an individual, but a king and kings do not. The first one is a proper noun.
The other two are common nouns.)

 The Prime Minister said: "Being a prime minister is a lonely job...you cannot lead from the
crowd." (Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher).
 (The Prime Minister specifies an individual, but a prime minister does not.)
(Issue 2) Capitalizing "The" when it starts a name (e.g., The Beatles).
Some names (particularly band names) start with "The" (e.g., The Beatles, The Rolling
Stones, The Sex Pistols). When such names appear in running text, you have a choice whether
to write "The" (with a capital letter) or "the." There's no consensus among the leading style guides
on this point, so go with your preference.

 Did you download the The Clash album?
(Logically, this is correct, but it's far too unwieldy. No one would write it. Most people would
write "Did you download the Clash album?".)

Bear in mind that you might stumble across this issue with foreign names.

 Gina Vitale: The restaurant is called "The La Trattoria."
 Michael Felgate: "The La Trattoria" means The The Trattoria.
 Gina Vitale: I know.
(This is an extract from the 1999 Hugh Grant film "Mickey Blue Eyes." With more clarity of
thought, the owner might have called the restaurant "La Trattoria.")

 Does it disturb anyone else that "The Los Angeles Angels" baseball team translates
directly as "The The Angels Angels"? (Anon)
(There's no fix for this one. Just go with it.)

Key Points

 Use "an" before a vowel sound and "a" before a consonant sound. (Note the
word sound.)
 If you're drawn to "an historic" or "an horrific", give your aitches more "huh" until you're
comfortable with using "a."
 When a job title (e.g., ambassador) or an office name (e.g., finance office) is preceded by
"an" or "a" (as opposed to "the"), write it with a lowercase letter.