heir first public appearance! Monaco's baby twins will be presented to the public early next month, says Palace... as Princess Charlene prepares to leave hospital

• The Monaco royal twins will make their public debut on 7th January
• Appearance will be on the balcony of the Palais Princier in Monaco
• The date has been declared a public holiday for citizens of the principality
• Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella were born last Wednesday
• They and their mother Princess Charlene are preparing to leave hospital 

Monaco has declared a public holiday on January 7th to celebrate the birth of twin heirs, Prince Jacques Honore Rainier and Princess Gabriella Therese Marie.

The babies, who were born last Wednesday by caesarean section, will also make their public debut - from the balcony of the Palais Princier in their parents' arms.

The news of the royal celebrations comes as their mother, South African born Princess Charlene, 36, prepares to leave hospital with the twins.

Going home: Princess Charlene, who has been recovering from the birth, is expected to leave hospital today

On her way: The royal and her babies have been inside the Princess Grace Hospital since Wednesday 

Charlene has not been seen since an appearance on Monaco's National Day last month and has been in hospital since arriving to give birth on Wednesday morning.

Husband Prince Albert, 56, has been a regular visitor but took an afternoon off on Friday for the official birth certificate ceremony held in the throne room at the Palais Princier.

The ceremony, which involves having the certificates signed and witnessed by 20 guests, was also celebrated by Princess Stéphanie, who, with her daughters Pauline Ducruet, 20, and Camille Gottlieb, 16, clinked champagne glasses with Albert as they celebrated the birth.

Away from the Palais Princier, the birth of the twins was celebrated with a 42-shot cannon salute on the night they were born which swiftly brought excited Monegasques onto the streets.

The following day saw a formal announcement of the birth in a ceremony held outside the flag-festooned palace.

Proud: Prince Albert found himself cheered to the rafters as he attended an AS Monaco match last night

Delighted: The new father also oversaw a formal birth certificate ceremony for the babies on Friday

Visit: Prince Albert II, pictured left, has been a regular visitor to the hospital

Legitimate: The babies are the heirs to Albert's throne and replace his sister Caroline

New father Albert, who has two illegitimate children from previous relationships, also found himself cheered to the rafters when he took his seat in the stands at an AS Monaco football match last night.

Babies Gabriella and Jaques arrived within minutes of each other on Wednesday evening, with the little girl born first at 5.04pm and her brother following two minutes later at 5.06pm.

Despite being the younger, it will be Prince Jacques who succeeds his father on the throne, thanks to Monaco's continued embrace of Salic law which states that male heirs always take precedence over their older sisters.

She will, however, get a title, becoming the Countess of Carlades, while Crown Prince Jacques will get the traditional style of Marquis of Baux - a name always given to the first born son.

The children, who are the first for 36-year-old Princess Charlene, were delivered at the Princess Grace Hospital, which is named after their late grandmother.

Love: The Prince, right, and Princess Charlene, left, were married in 2011, eleven years after they had first met

Celebration: The Royal Palace was illuminated in red and white to mark the arrival of the baby twins

Colourful: Red and white Monagasque flags hang from every window at the Palais Princier

Albert, who was once considered one of the world's most eligible bachelors, succeeded his father Prince Rainier in 2005 at the age of 47. 

He already had a daughter, Jazmin, 22, after a fling with former waitress Tamara Rotolo. He denied being her father for years before DNA tests proved otherwise when she was a teenager.

The prince also has a younger son, Alexandre Coste, 11, from an affair with Nicole Coste, a Togolese former Air France hostess. 

Under Monaco's inheritance laws, neither of them have any claim to royal titles or to be considered as heirs to Albert because they were born outside of marriage.

They do however have legal rights to a share of his huge personal fortune, estimated by Forbes magazine to exceed $1 billion (800 million euros).

Formal: Two placards, one in French and one in English, were used to announce the royal birth

Tradition: Royal births are usually announced with 21 blasts but this time, 42 cannon blasts were needed