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What do Americans really think about Britons?

If a recent survey is to be believed, Yanks have the impression that British people are proper, friendly, uptight and obsessed with the Royal Family.

The poll of 1,000 Americans suggests Britons are also reserved and witty – when visitors can understand what they're saying.

An American tourist poses for a photo outside Buckingham Palace in London

The study commissioned by British Airways found that as many as a third of US residents 'love Britain and everything about it' – except for the 'terrible' weather – and they can't understand the Geordie or Scottish accents.

According to Americans, Britons spend their spare time enjoying afternoon tea, watching or playing 'soccer', and gardening. 

Yanks also have the impression that Britons love a good bit of gossip with the neighbours, boozing and creating family trees when they're not moaning, playing board games or tennis or baking cakes.

In the eyes of people from the other side of the pond, UK residents 'speak properly', sound really clever and are also extremely polite, the study found.

Obsessed? A recent survey found that Americans think Britons are Royal Family fanatics

When they're spending time in the UK, Americans said they love the English accents, the countryside and London, and they're big fans of the politeness, Royal Family and fish and chips.

But there are a few things they don't like about Britain, including the impression that its people are 'a bit stand-offish' and 'uptight'.

Three in ten Americans said the UK is their favourite country and one in seven said they would move to Britain if they had the chance.

Tea time: According to Americans, Britons spend much of their spare time enjoying afternoon tea

And it appears Britons have a lot of positives to say about Americans as they consider them to be extremely patriotic and really friendly, according to the study.

One in six Britons thinks Americans are friendlier than adults from the UK, and Britons admitted to being big fans of US giants such as Apple, Microsoft, McDonald's and KFC, and television shows such as Friends, The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory.

Caroline Smith, British Airways Holidays' USA destination manager, said: 'It's perhaps not surprising that our friends in America think of tea when they think about Great Britain.'

Cheers: Yanks have the impression that Britons love a good bit of gossip with the neighbours and boozing

She added: 'And the Royal Family are a big part of our country, so again it may not come as a shock to see that they are one of the first things they think about when discussing our country.

'It's true that many of us can be overly polite – we form orderly queues and many say sorry when they haven't done anything wrong which is quite funny.

'In more ways than one, the US has hit the nail on the head as we do tend to play up to common stereotypes.'