With the birth imminent of Princess Charlene and Prince Albert’s twins, Monaco is gearing up to celebrate the arrival of their new heirs to the throne.
The royal household of Monaco, who confirmed last month that Princess Charlene was indeed pregnant with twins, have released a statement announcing how the occasion of the births of the twins will be marked.
“On the occasion of the upcoming princely births, the Palace wishes to inform the people of Monaco and residents of the Principality of the following arrangements,” read the statement.
“In celebration of the joyous arrival of these two children, and without distinction, forty-two cannon shots (twenty-one for each child) shall be fired from the Fort Antoine and church bells shall ring for fifteen minutes, followed by boat horns.”
In addition to this grand orchestral cacophony, Prince Albert, who is Monaco’s reigning sovereign, will sign an official proclamation of the birth that will be placed on display at the entrance to the Princely Palace.
The couple are also expected to officially present their new arrivals to the people of Monaco.
The statement continued: “The people of Monaco, residents and workers of the Principality as well as any individuals who wish to do so, are invited to attend the Princely Couple’s presentation of Their children at the Place du Palais, in order to pay tribute to them and that day will be declared public holiday for all individuals working in Monaco in celebration of this time of great joy.”
The date for this “presentation” is yet to be confirmed but it could be a while. It took eighteen months before Prince Albert’s sister Princess Caroline of Hanover, finally publicly unveiled her grandson Sacha, for the first time, at celebrations for Monaco’s national day last week. Sacha is the first child of her son Andrea Casiraghi and his wife Tatiana Santo Domingo.
The twins will be the first children for Princess Charlene, 36 and Prince Albert, 56, who tied the knot in 2011, the same year as Prince William and Duchess Catherine celebrated the royal wedding in the United Kingdom.
Prince Albert recently revealed that Princess Charlene is keeping the gender of their babies a secret from him – at his request of course.
“The Princess probably knows but she is playing the game. She is keeping the secret as I asked her to,” he told the Monaco Matin newspaper.
“You know, one doesn’t often have the opportunity to have such pleasant surprises in life, that is why I prefer not to know the babies’ gender before the birth,” added His Royal Highness.
Prince Albert and Charlene’s 2011 wedding has been described as the “biggest party in 55 years” in the wealthy European principality whose last most famous wedding was that of Albert’s parents, which saw Hollywood star Grace Kelly become Princess Grace as she wed Prince Rainier III.
Their wedding day was proceeded by a rock concert the night before which was attended by 15,000 local citizens, so there’s no question that the Monegasque royal family know how to throw an extravagant celebration. We’re sure the arrival of the royal twins will be no different when they are expected to arrive around Christmas time this year.
