Princess Charlene of Monaco gave birth to twins

Princess Charlene of Monaco gave birth to twins by caesarean section

Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella were born yesterday evening

Princess Charlene is expected to remain in hospital until Monday 

Prince Albert visited his official first born children earlier today

The Prince has two other children who have no claim to the throne    

Charlene, who is said to be doing well, gave birth by caesarian section and is likely to remain in hospital for at least another four days as she recovers from the birth.

Her husband Prince Albert remains by her side and was there when she gave birth to the babies, which replace their aunt Caroline as heirs to the throne. 

Standing to attention: Carabinieres stand guard outside the Palais Princier in Monaco this morning

Festooned: The front of the Palais Princier was awash with national flags, hung to celebrate the birth

• SHARE PICTURE

Copy link to paste in your message

 Yachts in the marina were also given the flags treatment and provided a colourful sight

'It is with immense joy that TT.SS.HH the prince and princess of Monaco have the great pleasure to announce the birth of their children named: Gabriella, Thérèse, 

Babies Gabriella and Jaques arrived within minutes of each other last night, with the little girl born first at 5.04pm and her brother following two minutes later at 5.06pm.

Despite being the younger, it will be Prince Jacques who succeeds his father on the throne, thanks to Monaco's continued embrace of Salic Law which states that male heirs always take precedence over their older sisters.

She will, however, get a title, becoming the Countess of Carlades, while Crown Prince Jacques will get the traditional style of Marquis of Baux - a name always given to the first born son.

Marie (born at 17h04) Jacques, Honoré, Rainier (born at 17h06).'

Jubilant: News of the birth was met with scenes of jubilation in the principality, the second smallest independent country in the world

Royal salute: The babies' arrival was also celebrated with a royal salute from a battalion of carabinieres

Although females are not allowed to inherit under Salic Law,  the late Prince Rainier III rewrote the constitution after becoming ill in 2002 to make it possible for one of his daughters to inherit if his son - who has two illegitimate children - failed to produce a legitimate heir.

 for 36-year-old Princess Charlene, were delivered at the Princess Grace Hospital - named after their late grandmother - where members of the media are currently gathering as they await the babies' first public appearance.

That all changed after Albert, 56, married former Olympic swimmer Charlene, 36, in 2011 - 11 years after the pair first met. Early this year, the couple finally announced they were expecting after a three-year wait.

The gender of the twins had been kept a secret during Charlene's pregnancy, including from their father who said last month that he was looking forward to being surprised.

During the same interview, he also made plain that should the twins turn out to be a boy and a girl, it would be the boy who succeeded him, regardless of birth order.

Albert, who was once considered one of the world's most eligible bachelors, succeeded his father Prince Rainier in 2005 at the age of 47. He already had a daughter, Jazmin, 22, after a fling with former waitress Tamara Rotolo. He denied being her father for years before DNA tests proved otherwise when she was a teenager.

The prince also has a younger son, Alexandre Coste, 11, from an affair with Nicole Coste, a Togolese former Air France hostess. Under Monaco's inheritance laws, neither of them have any claim to royal titles or to be considered as heirs to Albert because they were born outside of marriage.

They do however have legal rights to a share of his huge personal fortune, estimated by Forbes magazine to exceed $1 billion (800 million euros). 

From the Mail