When I first came to London there were things I believed the English did better than anyone else.  I still do, even the irritating customs.  Some of these habits are long-standing: driving on the left (that’s from reigns in the left hand, lance in the right), others are newer: the English proclivity for queuing left over from the war.  Most are almost holdovers from the days of Empire.  The English can make noblesse oblige look as natural as breathing.