The Turtle Hat in United Kingdom

I found in England the magic of the friendly hat did not seem to work. People never looked at it and I was perplexed. I was traveling with a friend and he began laughing in the railway station when he was walking behind me. It turns out the people were so reserved they would not look at me as they approached but would turn to look after they passed me, chuckling to themselves. My buddy Jeff was seeing the effect of the hat while I was not. So it was noticed but the people were too polite to laugh at me to my face.