Answers
Hallo aj00192557!
In answer to your first question: Yes I do bow when I am in the presance of a member of a Royal family. I always acknowledge their position as a member of a Royal family. For me ther are no boundaries: Christian Royals, Muslim Royals, Hindu Royals, Bhuddist Royals etc. Of course I take my own Royal House with most sincerity. I don't think that 'the royals should acknowledge the people for paying them to be their kings and queens.' Monarchs are not paid by anyone to be 'their kings and queens'. Monarchs recieve an amount of money from the elected/nominated governments of their countries to allow them to live the way they are entitled, and to perform the countless duties with which their lives are filled. Fulfilling these duties is, acknowledgement enough.
Number two: Any title, Baron, Lord, Viscount, Count, Earl, Marquis, Duke etc is entirely real life, thus it is used. If a person (in the British peerage), doesn't wish to have their title, they have a certain amount of time after succeeding to the title to disclaim it for life. Anyone not in possession of a genuine title, should not use it. These are bought from title mills, usually in countries where there are no real titles, to increase self-importance. It is an entirely futile venture, and deserves no more discussion. But simply, yes. Those who hold real title, use them if they are allowed. (Titled families of Germany, who aren't recognised as members of reigning Royal houses, aren't permitted to use titles, but are permitted to include the title within their name eg: Graf Claus von Stauffenberg (translation: Count Claus of Stauffenberg), becomes Claus Graf von Stauffenberg.
Number three: In a professional environment, nobles generally recieve no preferential treatment. If they di, it certainly isn't advocated by the government. But when acting in their capacity as the head/member of a noble family, then their title is reguarded in the highest fashion. Eg: at a coronation, the Lords etc assemble and are presented in order of precedance (highest to lowest), etc. Those are the times when titles people recieve preferential treatment.
Number four: In the modern world, barely any "look down" on "commoners". If so, it has become more a case of the richer nobles, recognising themselves as such. Eg: Does Donald Trump, or Tom Cruise etc ever look down on someone simply because they're rich?? I think we can find a similar answer somewhere there..
Number five: I respect and love my Monarch. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by Grace of God Queen of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Queen of Australia (I use two of her 27 monarchies because I am a citizen of both, and therefore, she is my Queen twice over), is a remarkable person and ruler. Her Majesty has moved and adapted with changing times over her 79 years of life, and 53 as Queen, and at the same time shown amazing consistancy, genuine feeling and interest for her subjects. But Her Majesty doesn't need to prove herslef to anyone. For there is one un-deniable truth - for us, she is The Queen.
Number six: Great Britain is a Monarchy, because throughout history, as the people developed through civilisation, leaders emerged, and/or were chosen by God. Those leaders then lead their people to inhabit lands which became kingdoms. And then after a very long time, we still see the descendants of those original leader sitting on the thrown throughout the world.
Australia is a Monarchy because that was the system of government that the country that brought Australia into the modern world had as it's own. But Australia wasn't quite a country, it was a colony of Great Britain. In 1901, the colonies became a group of federated states, and under the Crown, would function together under one federal government, with each state also having it's own government. Up until the 1950's, with most of the population being Anglo-celtic, or of anglo-celtic descent, it was natural to think of England as the mother country. Many still do today. But with the high level of non-British immigration, the culture has become far more diverse, with all of the various backgrounds. But still the Monarchy remains intact.
There was a referendum regarding the issue of Australia becomming a republic in 1999, in which the Australian people voted against the idea. To be truthful, there aren't really that many people who genuinely wanted a republic, it was simply a matter of ticking a box, (a practice many many Australians do without any real consideration). Given the facts however of the state of our Monarchy, there would have been fewer still who'd have voted for a republic.
Lisele:
Please never be tricked by thinking that each country only has one 'sash'. Those sashes, are part of the insignia worn of an Order of Knighthood. Generally, it is the highest grade of the order which has 3 pieces of insignia: The Breast star, The Sash, and the Pendant (a small weight at the bottom of a sash, which depicts of shows the motif of the order eg: the Danish Order of the Elephant has a small jewelled Elephant on the end of the sash).
Many rules and conventions apply to the awarding of these orders, and the wearing of the insignia. Most orders are worn from right to left. However, it is generally the senior orders where the sashes are worn left to right. Two examples are The Order of the Garter, and The Order of the Thistle. They are the highest orders of knighthood of the United Kingdom, and are worn over the left shoulder.
I hope that helps.