...fully aware of the difference & attach importance to it...

Yerse, but the English DON'T. To the English, 'England' is synonymous with 'Britain' along with Canada, Australia, India and all the rest of the long gone Empire. You're all still OUR'S in our hearts.

And SENSIBLE English people also have a soft spot for the other lost colonies who now call themselves the USA. (Especially after all the help in those wars in the last century.)