The heartfelt goodbye to the people's princess sums up how everyone felt about her tragic death. Astonished tourists fighting back their tears watched Englishmen weep unashamedly on the streets of London.

British religion used to be closely connected with kings, queens and politics. England was a Roman Catholic country until 1534. In 1525 King Henry VIII decided to divorce his queen, Catherine of Aragon, because he fell in love with Anne Boleyn. But when Henry asked the Pope for permission to divorce Catherine, he refused. Henry was so angry with the Pope that he ended all contact between England and Rome. He divorced Catherine of Aragon without the Pope's permission and married Anne Boleyn.

The centre of everything in Great Britain is the city of London. It's situated at the centre of a vast national and international network of communication. London consists of four main districts, which differ from each other. These are the City, Westminster, the West End and the East End. London's industries are extremely varied. Among them an extensive system of docks and port industries, electrical engineering, the motor car industry and other. The other towns, situated to the north of the Thames are Oxford and Cambridge.

London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and cultural centre. It's one of the largest cities in the world. Its population is more than 11 million people. London is situated on the river Thames. The city is very old and beautiful. It was founded more than two thousand years ago.

As well as being the capital of England, London is the capital of the United Kingdom. London was founded by the Romans in 43 A.D. and was called Londinium. In 61 A.D. the town was burnt down and when it was rebuilt by the Romans it was surrounded by a wall. That area within the wall is now called the City of London. It is London's commercial and business centre. It contains the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange and the head offices of numerous companies and corporations. Here is situated the Tower of London. The Tower was built by William the Conqueror who conquered England in 1066. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Now most of the Government buildings are located there.

The Tower of London is one of the most imposing and popular of London's historical sites. It comprises not one, but 20 towers. The oldest of which, the White Tower, dates back to the llth century and the time of William the Conqueror. Nowadays a lot of tourists visit the Tower of London, because of the Tower's evil reputation as a prison. The Tower is famous as home of the Crown Jewels. Today they can be viewed in their new jewel house. They include the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother which contains the celebrated Indian diamond.

The British have taken good ideas from all over the world. You can eat Chinese, Indian, Italian and Greek food in any big city. There is a fantastic variety of restaurants. The restaurants' best customers are business people, who meet in them to talk business in a relaxed atmosphere away from the telephone.

London is so large that visitors must learn to use buses and the underground to get about. London taxis are too expensive for any but the rich. You can get a map of the underground and the bus routes at any ticket office. The word "Underground" across a large circle shows you where the stations are. The London underground is called the "tube".

Cambridge is one of the best known towns in the world and it can be found on most tourists' lists of places to visit. Cambridge is famous for its university, which started during the 13th century and grew steadily, until today there are more than twenty colleges. The oldest one is Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284. And the most recent is Robinson College, which was opened in 1977. But the most famous is King's College, because of its magnificent chapel. Its choir of boys and undergraduates is well known all over the world. The Universities were only for men until 19th century when the first women's college was opened. Later the doors of colleges were opened to both men and wo/nen. Nowadays almost all the colleges are mixed.

This university town is very beautiful. The oldest university there is Oxford. The first of its colleges was founded in 1249. The university now has thirty-five colleges and about thirteen thousand students, many of them from other countries. There were no women at Oxford until 1878. When the first women's college Lady Margaret Hall, opened. Now most colleges are open to men and women. It is not easy to get a place at Oxford University to study for a degree. But outside the university there are many smaller private colleges which offer less difficult courses and where it is easy to enrol. Most students in these private school take business, secretarial or English language courses.