The line of succession to the Danish throne grew by two last week, as Crown Princess Mary gave birth to two healthy babies at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on January 8.
The 38-year-old Tasmanian-born Mary gave birth to the babies naturally, with her husband Crown Prince Frederik by her side throughout the labour.
The 42-year-old heir to the throne then announced the arrival of his twins in the hospitalÂ’s lobby.
“It’s a miracle,” he said. “There’s two small hearts to keep an eye on.”
The first child, a boy, was delivered at 10:30 am, weighing 2674 grams and measuring 47 centimetres. The second child, a girl, was born 26 minutes later, weighing 2554 grams and measuring 46 centimetres. The twins reportedly both have dark hair.
This is the first time twins have been born into the Danish Royal Family since 1626.
The twins are the third and fourth children for the royal couple. Their first-born, Prince Christian, was born in 2005 and is second in line to the throne after his father. Princess Isabella was born in 2007 and is third in line. The twins are fourth and fifth in line, pushing FrederikÂ’s younger brother, Prince Joachim, even further down the line to number six.
The two older siblings were smuggled into the hospital through a tunnel, a parking lot and a hidden elevator to see the newborn twins on Sunday morning, according to AustraliaÂ’s Herald Sun.
“It is still quite unrealistic for them, even though they have been following their mother’s beautiful growing stomach,” said Frederik to the newspaper.
According to Danish tradition, the names of the babies will not be announced until the christening, which is expected to be held in three months. In the meantime, Frederik joked that as they share their birthday with Elvis Presley, “we can call one of them Elvis for now” – a tongue-in-cheek remark that was apparently misinterpreted by some of the many international press covering the birth.
Immediately following the twinsÂ’ birth, the name guessing-game began. Although traditional Danish names are preferred for members of the Royal Family, they are only mandatory for the firstborn. The announcement of IsabellaÂ’s name stirred up some rumblings for being too non-Danish.
Veteran royal experts are predicting that the twins will also get non-Danish names.
