Most of the time if I am not travelling I'm in Vaduz [the capital of Liechtenstein]. I usually get up about 6.30am and go for a run before heading to the office. I try to do this on most days. I like the freedom of running so I go without bodyguards. Quite often I commute between Paris and Liechtenstein. I have a house in Paris and my wife, Isabelle [de L'Arbre de Malander], stays in Paris more often than not. In Vaduz people recognise me and will greet me - it's a small country - but in Paris no one looks twice; I am just a person out running. There are not too many people around at that time in the morning. Security is not really a problem because the family is low key. Outside Vaduz most people don't recognise me or even my brother, crown prince Hans Adam II, and the family likes it that way. We are not like the British royal family: we want to live normal lives and we don't attach a lot of value to being known or being on the front pages of newspapers. We tend to stay clear of that.
My sons, princes Alexander, Wenzeslaus and Rudolf, are grown up and employed. It's fairly quiet at home in Vaduz but there is other family around. Most of my time is spent at the bank and it leaves little room for other commitments. It's a hands-on job, otherwise it would not make much sense being chairman of LGT [Liechtenstein Global Trust] Bank. Before coming to LGT I worked in a bank in France for about 20 years. This is my profession; I just happen to be a prince as well.
Routine is not important to me. I prefer variety. I don't need a three-and-a-half minute egg in the morning and I am not fussy about what I eat. When I arrive at work I am greeted with stacks of papers, reports on the industry and there are a lot of people coming in and out of the office whom I have to talk to regularly. It's the usual sort of day for any banking executive; I am no different.
Lunch is usually something quick and light. Sometimes I am out with a client and that might take an hour but any longer and he would also start to look at his watch. The days of long lunches in Europe are gone. I have never indulged in that sort of thing. I like good food and wine, but can also enjoy something simple and quick. I don't like to cook and when I am on my own I go for ready-made things: flip open a carton and put it in the microwave. Oven dinners - it's not what some people might expect, such as lavish feasts with servants. That's a fantasy.
A lot of my work involves meeting people - it might be clients or people from the bank. In Asia in particular it's good for clients to meet the chairman of the bank because it's about personal service. Perhaps at the first meeting a client might go, 'Wow, you're a prince', but it's a first impression. Afterwards, people judge you on the quality of your work, not the title. In a business like ours there is an advantage in being a family-owned company and my title has some impact - it's a link to the family. We run our business for ourselves and a client in the same way. So people will think, 'They seem to be doing all right as a family, so if we throw in our lot with them maybe we will do okay too.'
I have not really thought about whether being a prince gives me any special advantage in Asia or Europe. In our country things are kept low key and no fuss is made about it. That is how it is in the company too. I feel much more comfortable with clients who don't make a fuss. The title might bring credibility, but if you don't do a professional job what is it worth? In the end what makes people come to this bank is what the company stands for and how good the people employed by the bank are, not its links to a royal family. It might attract a certain kind of person who puts a lot of emphasis on such things but that's not something I encourage. We have never promoted that image to make money out of the title - that would be abhorrent to me.