Meet Princess Charlene’s adorable twins, Gabriella and Jacques: Prince Albert’s daughter is 2 minutes older, but his son is next in line to the throne due to Monaco’s succession rules
Monaco’s royal twins, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, have had a difficult year after being separated from their mother Princess Charlene for much of 2021.
Here’s a look inside their royal lives.
The pregnancy news
A close friend of Prince Albert’s, Dr Jon Turk, described to People magazine how the prince found out he was going to be a dad.
He said that Albert was in a meeting when his wife called him from the doctors’ rooms, where she was having an ultrasound, to tell him they were going to have a baby.
Turk said the prince had to hurry back to the meeting but was called out again – this time, Charlene revealed that they were expecting twins!
The birth
A statement from the palace confirmed that Gabriella arrived two minutes before her brother Jacques. According to BBC, 42 cannon shots were fired to mark Gabriella and Jacques’ birth.
The succession rule
Ahead of the birth, the couple did not know the sexes of the twins, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Prince Albert said that if the babies were the same sex, the first child to be delivered would be next in line to the throne.
Prince Albert was appointed regent in 2005 after his father Prince Rainier III fell ill. He ascended the throne in April 2005.
Their education
Mirror reports that the children enrolled in the private L’Institution François d’Assise-Nicolas Barré in September. But they were taken out after a few months and started attending lessons at the palace with a few friends.
Charlene said her daughter loved school so much, even she wanted to go to school on Saturdays, according to Point de Vue.
Prince Albert said in an interview that the twins are “curious about geography and science”, People reports, and that they went through a phase where they wanted to know about the planets, oceans and solar system, too.
Their personalities
Prince Albert told People that Jacques is quieter and shyer than his sister, but said he “comes up with some funny things”. He added that the younger twin is an observer who first likes to size things up before making a decision.
Firstborn Gabriella, on the other hand, is more outgoing and talkative. She apparently loves people, and enjoys dancing and singing.
Keeping out of the spotlight
He added that they have been broadly told what a royal is, but they have not given much detail on what is expected of them.
- Prince Jacques is next in line to the throne due to Monaco’s succession laws, despite being the younger twin by two minutes and his dad fathering older, illegitimate children
- The twins recently celebrated their seventh birthdays – but spent most of 2021 apart from their mum as she cared for her health, and then there were those divorce rumours …