Princess Charlene and Prince Albert’s little ones aren’t so little anymore.
The youngest members of the monastic royal family, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, turned 9 over the weekend, and the family celebrated by sharing a new portrait of the twins. Both Jacques and Gabriella were appropriately dressed in formal attire, with Gabriella wearing a navy coat and matching beret and her brother dressed in formal military attire.
“Happy Birthday Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella,” read the caption of the post.
The photo was taken last month at the family’s last appearance together, on Monaco’s National Day, which marks the centenary of Prince Rainier, who, along with his wife Princess Grace, founded the country’s modern dynasty.
The royal twins were photographed waving from the palace balcony with their parents as the country celebrated the holiday.
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Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco with their twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, on Monaco National Day 2023.
Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty
To celebrate, their mother, Princess Charlene, wore a double-breasted button-down with a wide turtleneck and a matching Stephen Jones beret-style hat – a look her daughter matched perfectly.
Prince Albert wore an official military uniform similar to that worn by his son as they attended a series of events to commemorate the day.
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Between National Day and his twins’ birthdays this weekend, the sovereign prince has been in Asia on several state visits and also attended the COP28 conference in Dubai.
As the family prepares for the holidays, their next appearance together is likely to be at the annual Palace Gift Day, a holiday event introduced by Princess Grace when she joined the royal family in 1956. They will then pack their bags for a year-end winter holiday in Antarctica.
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Princess Gabriella, Princess Charlene, Princess Stephanie, Prince Jacques and Prince Albert of Monaco attended Monaco National Day 2023.
David Niviere/SC Pool – Corbis/Getty
During an interview with PEOPLE ahead of his birthday in March, Prince Albert gave some insight into the twins’ personalities — and their sass.
Having previously described his daughter Princess Gabriella as “a gun”, Albert said she still “has that little mischievous glint in her eye. She has her own little personality and sometimes she does things that are, you know – she’ll try to use her brother and get him into trouble…”
“But Jacques opposes her now, and when he’s had enough, he says ‘No!’ So he wasn’t crushed by her strong personality,” he noted.
Speaking about how the young royals have adjusted to more frequent public outings, Albert said Gabriella “can sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable around too many people”, so her brother stepped in to help. “Now between them, Jacques talks more, engages more, in public.”
He also shared the twins’ not-so-subtle plan to “kidnap” him on his birthday later that month, as he joked: “It’s a secret. The kids want to kidnap me,” Prince Albert added. – They want to take me to a play at the theater, but actually I was only warned that I would be kidnapped.
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He also spoke about how much he values family, calling Princess Charlene and their two children his proudest achievement of his 18-year reign.
“You mean besides my wife and my kids? Because they are.”
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Source: HIS Education