Schwarzenberg once wrote about the emperor in a letter to Metternich:
“The young emperor seems very dignified, he behaves very politely, but he is rather cold. The public thinks - in Vienna many emphasize kindness - that he is not very cordial. His character shows not a trace of the kind superficial good-heartedness of the other archdukes, he lacks the desire to please, to appear good on the outside. On the other hand, he is very approachable, patient and has the prerequisites to be fair to everyone." (quote from the book Emperor Francis Joseph, the author John Van der Kiste)
The emperor loved his army very much and remained loyal to it throughout his reign. He mostly wore military uniform in public, although his people would have preferred to see him in a more human form, but the monarch felt better in his popular uniforms. Thanks to his red pants, he was nicknamed Lieutenant Red Pants. He used civilian clothes only for unofficial trips or visits. His fixation on uniforms was the same as his aloofness and mistrust of other people, he felt comfortable only in what he had experienced. When his long-time teacher and prime minister of the Schwarzenberg government died, Francis Joseph I refused to appoint a new prime minister, saying that he could not trust anyone else so much and he really ruled for seven years and held his post alone.
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