United Kingdom

Only a narrow-minded homebody-philistine will agree with the prevailing opinion that Great Britain is a country of gray fogs, oatmeal, boring and pedantic people, manufactories and factory smoke, the usual rhythm of which is broken only by details about the life of the royal family that disturb the press. Such an erroneous idea dissipates at the first acquaintance with old England. You can not love Paris and miss Rome and Venice, but having visited at least once on the shores of “foggy Albion” forever falls in love with this country, its people, its famous “English” lifestyle.

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state (as well as the head of the Commonwealth) is Queen Elizabeth II. Legislative power in the country belongs to the monarch and parliament, consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the actual power is concentrated in the hands of the government, headed by the Prime Minister. The well-known adherence to traditions of the British to a large extent contributes to the stability of the political system: waves of love or dislike for the figure of this or that prime minister, sympathy for one of the two powerful parties — the Laborites or the Conservatives, die out before respect for the inhabitants of the royal residence — Buckingham Palace.