Proud Charlene on her twins’ first day at school
Princess Charlene’s twins Gabriella and Jacques had a blast on their first day at pre-school and their parents couldn’t be prouder
ONE moment they’re chubby-cheeked cherubs cooing in your arms, the next they’re shrugging on their backpacks and heading off to school.
Blink and you’ll miss it, any mom will tell you – and Her Serene Highness of Monaco can no doubt relate.
Princess Charlene was bursting with bittersweet pride as she watched her three-year-old twins, Gabriella and Jacques, set off on their first day of preschool.
“It was a proud day for myself and my husband,” the 40-year-old royal told YOU a few days after the big day. “We were all very excited. The twins couldn’t wait to go to school.”
Prince Albert’s wife took to Instagram to share some adorable snapshots of the special day. In the pictures, which she captioned simply, “First day of school”, the little blue-bloods are wearing matching white polo shirts and jeans. Little Gabriella sports a pink floral backpack while her brother has a black one with patches on it.
In one photo, the curly-haired princess, who was born seconds before her brother, reaches up to put her hand on his shoulder. In another she walks confidently ahead of him into the classroom.
It hasn’t been disclosed which school Albert (60) and Charlene’s twins are attending but it’s likely they’re following the regular French/Monegasque school system, which sees kids aged three to five attend nursery school, or l’école maternelle.
The twins “absolutely loved” their first day, Charlene says. “They couldn’t wait to tell us all about it when we picked them up after school. And they couldn’t wait to get back the following day.
“It’s rewarding for myself and Albert to see our kids grow, to be so happy and excited and independent.”
IT’S quite clear the tots – who turn four on 10 December – take after their famous mother. Mike Wittstock vividly remembers his daughter’s first day at Wendy Nursery School in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where the family lived before they
moved to Benoni in Gauteng in 1989.
“She was four at the time,” Mike tells YOU. “I remember she was very excited for her first day. She was always a confident and independent little girl – never a shy child. She was also very active, forever climbing trees at nursery school.”
She fell in love with swimming in primary school, he says. At six she attended Khomalo Primary school in Bulawayo before moving to Tom Newby Primary School in Benoni at age 10 after the family’s move.
It was there that she really began to excel in the pool. “She tried all the sports in primary school but swimming was her forte,” Mike says. “She was a natural athlete and always wanted to help others.
“Lynette [Charlene’s mother] and I have always been very proud of her.”
Charlene’s brother, Johannesburgbased businessman Sean Wittstock (35), who’s married to Chantell, who runs her own promotions company, also has fond memories of his sister from their primary school days.
“I was a lot younger and we didn’t attend primary school at the same time, but I remember her as always being a loving older sister,” he says. “We had a lot of fun together. She used to tease and play jokes on me and my older brother, Gareth (36). She was always protective of us. We were all very close growing up.”
That special sibling camaraderie is something Jacques and Gabriella have inherited too.
“They’re accomplices,” Charlene told French magazine Point du Vue earlier this year. “They’re closer than we ever imagined they would be.
“Jacques is the love of Gabriella’s life. Neither Albert nor I can interfere in their relationship.”
While they love seeing their children get along, their bond doesn’t always make things easier for mom and dad.
“Our children are very independent and always make decisions together. Sometimes they tell us ‘no’,” Charlene lamented.
But when it comes to their personalities, they’re like chalk and cheese. “Jacques is reserved,” she said. “He’s sure of himself but he likes to take his time doing things, to observe them, and no one can force him to do anything.”
Gabriella, on the other hand, “isn’t afraid of anything. With her it’s always full steam ahead.”
But both are “so full of life that they sometimes seem to me to have too much energy for their age”.
WHILE the doting mom has her hands full with her energetic kids, Charlene often returns to SA to visit her family and for her charity commitments. She’s the patron of various organisations including Life-saving SA and her own foundation which teaches children to swim.
Jacques and Gabriella have yet to accompany her on an SA visit, but it’s on the cards, she told us earlier this year.
Similarly, Albert says he wants the twins to learn more about their famous grandmother on his side of the family, American actress Grace Kelly. Earlier this year he announced he’ll be converting his mother’s childhood home in Philadelphia in the USA, where he and his sisters, Stephanie and Caroline, used to spend time as kids, into offices for the Princess Grace Foundation.
“I think it’s important they get a sense of family history and legacy,” he told NBC’s Today. “I remember rolling on this carpet, playing with my sisters and cousins at five or six years old.”
He’s also spoken out on how he’s preparing his twins for their future roles in the royal family.
In a book released earlier this year, Albert de Monaco: L’homme et le Prince (Albert II of Monaco: The Man and the Prince), he shared how he’ll help his son prepare for the Monegasque throne.
“I’ll try to give him good advice. What’s important is that he gets to know our institutions fairly early and how the government and the different administrations work.
“That he also gets to know the people in place, even if they’ll probably have been replaced by others when he’s of age. It’s essential that he gets to know Monaco from the inside.”
Albert is convinced he should’ve been more diligent in learning about these things when he was younger.
He says while Gabriella isn’t heir to the throne she’ll “have her part of the job to do”.
“My sisters [princesses Caroline and Stephanie] do a lot of things. A day will come when they will be less present, less active, and where someone else will have to assume their responsibilities.”