system which was created to examine and monitor government departments and policies, and the manner in which ministers discharge their responsibilities.
The select committee system consists of 17 individual committees "shadowing" the expenditure, administration and policy of the main government departments. Each committee has a more or less permanent cross party membership, all of whom have acquired considerable expertise in their respective fields. They give an opportunity for MPs to act more independently of their party than they are able to do in the debating chamber. During the period of Conservative government in the 1980ies, for example, members of select committees, including their Conservative members, were strongly critical of the government. p> The fact that Parliament debates are now televised in spite of the traditional British obsession with secrecy can tell volumes about the dynamic changes. Even the institution of monarchy has to get adjusted to the new conditions. For the last two centuries the public have wanted their monarchs to have high moral standards Queen Victoria as a hard working, religious mother of nine children, devoted to her husband, Prince Albert, was regarded as the personification of contemporary morals.
In 1936 Edward VIII, the uncle of the present Queen, was forced to abdicate because be wanted to marry a woman who had divorced two husbands. The government and the major churches in the country insisted that Edward could not marry her and remain King. In 200 Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne married Camilla Parker Bowles, a divorcee, who had been his lover for many years and the monarchy did not fall.
At the end of the 20ieth century the members of the royal family made the headlines of nearly all the country's tabloids. The year 1992 was called "annus horribilis" by the Queen and the fire at Windsor Castle was hardly the worst of the Queen's troubles. In January the Duchess of York, Prince Andrew's wife, popularly known as "Fergie", was reliably reported to be having an affair. In February Princess Diana on tour with her husband in India, posed alone in front of the Taj Mahal, conveying the unmistakable message that her marriage was also in trouble. In March the Duke and Duchess of York announced their separation. In April Princess Anne and her husband divorced. In June, a young journalist, Andrew Morton, published a book entitled "Diana: Her True Story" which made public Charles's long standing relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. p> Further revelations came in quick succession as the newspapers competed to buy the most lurid stories, photographs and tapes of telephone calls involving various members of the Royal Family. It was little wonder that the Queen publicly referred to 1992 as her "annus horribilis"
Diana's tragic death in 1996 made another blow to the image of the Royal Family. It revealed the latter's lack of warmth, frankness and spontaneous compassion. No wonder Tony Blair who at that time held the position of the Prime Minister advised the Royal Family to abandon protocol and show greater public feeling. p> After Diana's death the Royal Family began to modify its image in order to survive. It has become less grand, a little less distant. Only few can say whether it will help return people's love and admiration.
3. Clothes
Another area in which stereotypes and modern life, traditions and innovations come into conflict is clothes. For modern Russians a typically British gentleman is hardly associated with John Bull as the name and the character seem rather obscure, but the stereotyped image of the London's city gent 'includes the wearing of a suit and a bowler hat, holding a walking stick and smoking a pipe or a sigar. The stereotyped image of the lady of the manor is something between Queen Elizabeth, Margaret Thatcher and Miss Marple. When Madonna bought an ancient mansion in England she did her best to look like a lady wearing a woolen twin set and a thread of pearls.
In fact, a photograph taken at random in a busy street on a Saturday, would tell an observer very little about the lace, the season, the social class or the work done by the people, so diversified have the clothes worn by the British become. One can make the generalization that people over 50 tend to dress more traditionally and formally at least when on a visit to "town", whereas the population under the age of 45 to 50 presents a variety of costume that, at its extreme, turns the street into a fancy - dress parade. There is no uniformity of skirt length, trouser width, or of style in general beyond some vague similarities of detail that allow one to characterize some as "Punks", others as "Goths" or as executive types.
It is true that a small number of the upper and professional upper middle class, for example barristers, dipl...
