Scones mostly transcend class - their German and Scottish origins mean they're acceptable to Royal Family
They're served as part of High Tea - a Yorkshire meal.
Also Cream Tea (served with
clotted cream and jam) which is a Devon/ Cornwall meal.
Both are farmhouse traditions and really just afternoon tea, to fit in between luncheon and dinner. I bet they were for the farmwives, who'd been up earlier than the farmers to fix their breakfasts.
In modern times, if you scoff enough, you skip dinner and go on to supper - which is always nicer anyway.
They're easy enough to make - and so scrummy - that they are countrywide.
Outside of hotels/ tearooms they are still usually eaten mid-afternoon with a beverage of choice. With butter and/or jam, and cream only as a treat. Lemon curd I am aware of, but never as a scone topping. But like toast - you find what suits you
Accepted variations - plain, fruited and cheese.
Cheese is my favourite - nom nom. Not generally served in hotels, and never spread with cream or jam!
Marks & Spencers sell really good ones separately. When Mum & Dad are away I'll get one for Grandad. I'll usually find half of one slice in the bin (means he's eaten 3/4) but I know he loves it.
As most things in England, there isn't any
really proper way of doing things because we're a diverse nation. Unless you are talking the Upper Class. Their rules are (or were) rigid, and by design. Social disgrace was easy to come by and the education to avoid it was long and expensive. And honestly, their rules would make the average Brit (and American?) cringe. No please and thank you for example. No acknowledgement of service. No tips. And no bloody outsiders, down to the fourth or fifth generation.
Don't aspire, I say. Nicer down here - we'll warm the pot for you.