I adore PG Wodehouse; Jeeves, in particular.
I have never found the British to be polite despite Wodehouse. But then he was writing about the insulated upper class Brits of a certain era. I have never really gotten to know that crowd. My friends are either middle class to working class. They have the worst habit of making personal remarks of anybody I’ve ever met. They think it’s amusing to insult you. Sometimes they take it in good sport when you hit back, sometimes not. And let’s not even discuss their tipping habits, lol!
From Wellington on (until socialism came in like a storm in the 50's) the British did have a refined air. They had sort of an understated grace...they had class but didn't flaunt it like the French tended to do.
Of course, such generalizations can't be spread to all classes and all people at all times during the era, but the upper and middle classes did have a very different way about them than the culture of Britain today (again due to socialist policies).
Tudor times were different as were other earlier British eras. But it was Wellington (the post-Napolenic era) which seems to have brought in that "stiff upper lip" way of life.
I’ve always been a big Jeeves and Wooster fan — have you got the omnibus? I’ve been re-reading some of Plum’s earlier works like “the Prefect’s uncle” and also the Blandings Castle series — smashing!