Sun Never Sets

Britain is just a small island off the coast of Europe. Most other nations are bigger than Britain. Britain has never really been integrated into Europe; they are partly in Europe and partly out of Europe.
In fact, the British Empire was a global rather than a European empire. This means that they have always traditionally looked beyond Europe, and did not really regard themselves as part of Europe. In fact, they were so small that other nations didn't take them seriously until it was too late and they had conquered the world.