Internationally, chivalry is still one of the primary characteristics associated with the quintessential English male. That and loutishness. Over the years the bowler hat-tilting English gent has been joined by another international stereotype: the Brit abroad. So how did this change come about? And if internationally English manners are regarded as being on the wane, how do English men see themselves?

Figures arrived at yesterday by dating website Dating Direct.com would seem to suggest that some remnants of old fashioned male charm may still linger within the UK. Well, at least they do if you ask British men themselves. Of the 1,000 UK adult males polled, over half (56 per cent) said they ‘enjoy’ picking up the bill after dinner and over a third (34 per cent) say they will frequently defend a woman’s honour. Frequently? Are we talking fisticuffs or pistols at dawn? I am embarrassed to confess that I fall into the lily-livered 66 per cent, who would rather shuffle off quietly than take matters outside when my lady’s virtue is at issue. Perhaps that is why I am presently single. The most surprising statistic of all however was that 13 per cent of men still stand up when a lady enters or leaves the room. Who are these people? Liars I presume. I don’t believe 13 per cent of the population stands to give their seat to an elderly person on public transport, let alone to herald the entrance of a female to a room.

Gentlemen, they say, prefer blondes, but do blondes prefer gentlemen? As St George’s Day came and went, Times Online caught up with relationship psychologist and advice columnist for AOL, Susan Quilliam to ask her what place chivalry has in contemporary Britain.