(Translated) Interview of hereditary princess Sophie
Hereditary Princess Sophie: Parents need to take responsibility for their children more clearly
She is a mother with heart and soul and for Hereditary Princess Sophie, family is both a task and a calling. Liechtenstein will have to be patient until she steps more into the limelight.
Volksblatt: Royal Highness, you are rather reserved towards the media: Why don't interview dates appeal to you?
Hereditary Princess Sophie von Liechtenstein: It's just that we are generally reserved with the People and protect our private lives.
In Vaduz you can be seen with a shopping basket in the vegetable store, in Feldkirch you can be seen through the old town: How do you feel when someone recognises you and addresses you?
I don't have a problem, it doesn't happen that often either. If someone knows me, maybe he greets me and I greets me back or vice versa. However, I am rarely addressed directly.
I've seen the future mother of the country: Do people write or tell you personally about their hopes, wishes, annoyances?
Rarely , We have a wonderful Mother of the Country, namely the Princess
When you underwent a serious operation in spring 2003, the population showed a great deal of sympathy. Did you feel that?
Oh yes, very much so. I was, indeed we all were, carried along with care,
Is everything all right now with the illness?
You like music and support young artists in Liechtenstein as a patron. Do you make music with your three princes and the princess at Vaduz Castle or does it come from CDs?
Music comes to us mainly from CDs. One of the children and I play an instrument, and sometimes we play together
What music do your children listen to?
The children live for Guggenmusik! They also like to listen to Indian music at the moment.
And what music do you favour?
More and more classical music
Do your children like computer games?
Solitaire and Minesweeper they know, but we don't have a Gameboy or anything like that
Let's talk about your daily routine: What does your day look like as a mother and hereditary princess?
I'm similar to other housewives and mothers in Liechtenstein, except that the household is bigger and there may be more to organise. And then there are the other tasks.
Will you be taking on one or other of the Princess's voluntary tasks?
No, at the moment the children really have first priority. I couldn't do justice to the task either
Who helps you with the housework and looking after your four children?
I have help around the house. But above all, I have a mother-in-law who lives in the house and we can always count on
Does a nanny support you?
At the moment and probably also in the future we don't have a nanny. But we have a very lively person who also supports us three afternoons a week
How do you recover from your many everyday tasks? What is the best way to switch off?
With. Music, rest, reading and being outdoors in nature
And television? What are your favourite programmes to watch?
I actually only watch news programmes. The TV is the biggest "time killer"
But you do watch "Bullen von Tölz" - after all, you lived in this corner of Upper Bavaria for several years?
No. I've seen the programme once or twice, but that's not my thing
What does family mean to you?
For me, family means purpose and Vocation It is with great pleasure that I dedicate myself to this task in small and also in the grander family : Although "the family" seems more intact in Liechtenstein than elsewhere, school social work is now an issue.
What tasks do parents need to more again?
I believe that parents generally need to take on more of the responsibility that they have taken on as parents. It's not as if you sit your children in front of the TV and then you've done the parenting. You have to deal with children
Are you bringing up your eldest, Joseph Wenzel, as the future heir apparent, more strictly or differently?
No, But he realises that he will probably have a different role to his sibling one day. He sees that in his father and his father's father.
Can you spend a lot of time with your children?
Yes, but "can" almost sounds as if you're not asking whether I still have time for my hobby. In our family, children and their upbringing are a big priority. I believe that it's best if the mother takes care of her children herself, and ours are still small and need me. that's why I don't take so many public opportunities. it will be a few years before this changes. In this way, I can and want to spend a lot of time with the children Two of my four children already go to school.
What is different in their world compared to when you were at school?
Sometimes I think things are less natural and normal than they were thirty years ago. As if everything that is possible today, whether with money or technology, must necessarily be made possible Wealth as an end in itself
what do you think about this problem of the affluent society?
That is always problematic. Money prays ina certain amount of security. But if there is nothing else, you are poor.
You are the great-great-granddaughter of the last Bavarian king. What was your dream job as a child?
For a long time, I wanted to be a librarian, so I read more books and kept order, and also taught the class library at school
You have been married in Liechtenstein for eleven years: to what extent do you see similarities and differences between the population in Liechtenstein and in Bavaria?
To be honest, it's difficult for me to answer this question, because i get it since our engagement.
What do you miss most from Bavaria in Liechtenstein?
Maybe the scenery, but I never really ask myself that question!
You briefly studied interior design in London: This raises the question of the Interior design of your flat in the castle: Is it traditional or rather modern?
When the Hereditary Prince is in charge of the Prince's affairs of state, do you have to be more in the limelight, more at your husband's side?
That depends on a number of different occasions, but above all it depends on the needs of our children. problary still take a couple of years after that, before we can increase the Occasions.
The women in the House of Liechtenstein have always worked in the background: for music - music, the arts, the Red Cross and children's charities. How do you support Princess Marie in this?
We discuss and advise eachother
How do you interpret the role of the Hereditary Princess in the area of tension between private person and public figure?
I am happy to fulfill my public duties as far as I can, but for me my children are my Priority I don't see myself as a "person of public interest", for example when I'm picking up the children from school or buying something, I'm just a normal mum and private person
I don't have a titled role model. There are many different people who i use as a role model
on who do you think before all?
I usually think of the Saints or of the People who i have met and impressed me
Do religion and faith mean a lot to you?
Yes, it means a lot and It is important to me. its important to live the belief naturally and peacefully inside of the family.
Your Royal Highness, what do you want?
Peace in my family ,the country and the world