How Beyoncé will bling up her twins
She’s built a massive suite for the two new babes, but they’ll also have to work hard, writes Tom Leonard
CAN you feel a buzz in the air? That’s the “Beyhive”, the millions of adoring fans of the R&B superstar Beyoncé, pulsating with excitement over a showbiz event of seismic importance. She has given birth to twins.
The double birth, which reportedly took place in secret at a Los Angeles hospital last week, has provided her besotted following with the perfect chance to fawn over a performer many of them call a “goddess”.
And who can blame them? After all, this is the woman who once said: “I’m more powerful than my mind can even digest.”
The 35-year-old and her 47-year-old hip hop mogul husband, Jay-Z, aka Shawn Carter, were recently hailed by financial magazine Forbes as the world’s first billion-dollar showbusiness couple.
The pair, who last year earned $147 million through music, endorsement deals and other companies, already have a daughter, Blue Ivy, 5.
As befits parents whom some critics find unbearably narcissistic, opportunistic and publicity-obsessed, their daughter has already featured in their music videos, their endless pictures on social media and even their business development plans.
And Blue Ivy won’t be the only one wondering how things will change now she has two baby siblings hogging the limelight.
What does life have in store for the Bey-Z twins?
For clues as to who will be the first in line to coo over the newborns, look no further than the guest list at Beyoncé’s recent baby shower (dubbed the “Carter Push Party”).
The African-themed event at Beyoncé’s home featured a giant tent, henna tattooing and huge balloons spelling out the word “Twinning”.
It was attended by Beyoncé’s former bandmates in Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, tennis champion Serena Williams, jewellery designer Lorraine Schwartz, as well as the singer’s sister, Solange, and their fashion designer mom, Tina Knowles.
And granny won’t be too far away. LA-based Tina said she “can’t wait” to become a grandmother again.
She recently revealed she bought her grandchildren drum sets and noisy toys to get revenge on her musically-gifted daughters. Twin drum sets? Lucky the Carters have a big house… though, apparently, not big enough.
The Carters never do anything by halves. They need a bigger home now, and have offered $120 million (R1.5 billion) for a vast, hilltop mansion in LA’s Bel Air neighbourhood, which boasts four pools, eight bedrooms and bullet-proof glass. The house is just down the road from Tom Jones’s home.
The couple has reportedly spent $500 000 on a lavish nursery.
“Bey and Jay knocked out a wall between two bedrooms to create a master suite-size nursery,” says a source.
“They’ll have matching cribs and rockers and designer sheets worth $30 000, and a $50 000 sound system.”
Beyoncé has commissioned a $20 000 mural on the ceiling, complete with an array of glowing stars, the insider adds.
“It’s incredible. It’s the entire galaxy above the nursery.”
Rather more elaborate than a few stick-on stars, then…
The room will also feature custombuilt walk-in closets, a fireplace and its own cinema. These birds may never want to fly the nest.
Playmates could be a little bit thin on the ground. Beyoncé’s friends either don’t have children or – in the case of her sister and chums such as Gwyneth Paltrow – have children too old to want to play with the twins.
The almost-as-famous couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Jay-Z’s former musical collaborator, would fit the bill. They also live in LA and have children with reasonably compatible ages – 1-year-old Saint West and North West, 4 – and the same super-celebrity background.
Although the once inseparable couples fell out after the unpredictable Kanye attacked both Carters in an on-stage rant, there were signs of a rapprochement when they got together in January.
Could the ultimate celebrity playdate be on the cards?
It’s entirely possible that Beyoncé has bigger priorities on her mind than choosing twins’ names. Priorities such as trademarking the name they chose for their first child, for instance.
For Beyoncé, babies aren’t just pretty accessories for pictures posted on Instagram or helpful talking points in soft-soap interviews. They are marketing opportunities.
Last week, Beyoncé asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to deny a motion to delay her trademark battle over Blue Ivy Carter’s name.
Beyoncé – who already has a gym clothing range called Ivy Park – wants to use her daughter’s name for commercial purposes in beauty, fashion and electronics ventures.
Blue Ivy Carter perfume is understood to be the first project in the pipeline. – Daily Mail