Princess Charlene of Monaco today gave to give birth to twins – a boy called Jacques and a girl called Gabriella.
Gabriella
was born first at 5.04pm, and Jacques at 5.06pm, but it is Jacques who
will be the future Prince of Monaco, because of the Mediterranean
principality's male inheritance laws.
They
are the first children for the 36-year-old former South African Olympic
swimmer, who married Prince Albert II, 56, three years ago.
In hospital: Princess Charlene was admitted to this morning
Marking the arrival: Forty-two shots rang out to announce the birth of the twins
Ready for the first glimpse: Photographers gathered outside the Princess Grace Hospital - named after the twins' grandmother
Global event: The press gather after it was announced the princess gave birth this evening
He
was by her side today, as the children were delivered at the Princess
Grace Hospital, which is named after Albert's mother, the late Hollywood
star, Grace Kelly.
Soon after 7.30pm, 42 cannon shots rung around Monaco, confirming that the babies had been born.
Albert had arranged the 42 shots, in place of the 21 that would boom for a single baby.
It
was the first time Charlene has become a mother, while Albert is the
father of at least two children considered 'illegitimate' by the House
of Grimaldi.
They
are Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, his 22-year-old daughter with a Californian
woman, and Alexandre Coste, his 10-year-old son with a former flight
attendant from Togo, in West African.
DNA
tests were used to confirm Albert's status as father in both cases,
following protracted legal battles involving the billionaire royal.
A
palace source confirmed Jacques will be the Principality's future
ruler, and inheritor of the tax-free fortune which goes with it.
The babies are the first twins in the royal household, which dates back to the 13th Century.
Heir: The baby boy and girl are the first children to be born to the couple - and the heirs to Monaco
Prince
Albert made it clear that if a boy and girl were born, the boy would
become the royal heir, in line with the male priority of Monaco's
succession law.
Albert
has admitted that he did not know the sex of the children before birth:
'It is one of the beautiful surprises that life offers us,' he said.
Only one woman has ever reigned over Monaco, Princess Louise-Hippolyte, but she died months after assuming the throne in 1731.
It
was in 2002 that Monaco's Parliament was directed by the royal family
to change its constitution to allow royal power to pass from a reigning
prince with no descendants to his siblings - potentially Albert's two
sisters.
This would have ensured the continuation of the Grimaldi dynasty if Albert never produced a legitimate heir.
It would also ensure that his other children did not stake a claim to the throne in future years.
Gorgeous: South African Princess Charlene married Albert II of Monaco in 2011
Now,
not one but two royal heirs have arrived at once - much to the delight
of locals. 'This is going to create an immense joy. Immense!' said
Monaco resident Isabelle Roux, ahead of the birth.
'They are awaited like the messiah ... Everyone is talking only about that.'
'Two
babies for the price of one. I think it's very good for the image,'
added Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre, editor-in-chief of the celebrity
weekly Point de Vue. 'With twins, there's always an extra interest.'
The
babies will be the first twins in the royal household, which was
established in the 13th century, but they will not share the throne.
In the UK, only one set of royal twins has ever been born - to King James I of Scotland and his wife Joan Beaufort in 1430.
It
is thought that the twins were welcomed via caesarean section, but the
doctor delivering them had no more than a symbolic hand in deciding the
destiny of the Grimaldi dynasty.
In
principle, there's no medical reason a doctor would have an active role
in deciding which newborn is delivered first, even in the case of a
caesarean section, an expert said.
'The
obstetrician will always deliver first the twin that presents itself
first when the uterus is opened at the time of caesarean section,' said
Dr. Patrick O'Brien, spokesman for Britain's Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. 'We don't decide in advance which twin
to deliver first.'
Had
they both been of the same sex, the first one out would have taken the
throne but because the Monégasque twins are a boy and a girl, the boy
will automatically inherit.
Father of two: James I fathered the UK's only royal twins, while Prince Frederik is parent to a set born in 2011
Elsewhere
in Europe, twins are more common with Georg Friedrich, Prince of
Prussia, and his wife Princess Sophie of Isenberg producing a pair of
twin boys last year.
Also
parents to twins are Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his wife
Mary, who welcomed Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine into their
family in 2011.
Prince
Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou is yet another royal father of twins, and
was with his wife Maria Margarita Vargas Santaella when she gave birth
to Prince Louis, Duke of Burgundy and Prince Alphonse, Duke of Berry in
2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment