Princess Charlene of Monaco Opens Up on What’s ‘Essential’ but ‘Difficult’ When It Comes to Raising Twins

Princess Charlene of Monaco shared rare insight about her twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, who she shares with husband Prince Albert. 

In an interview with the French publication Gala magazine, Princess Charlene, 46, spoke about her 9-year-old twins’ personalities — and shared tips on the unique experience of parenting twins.

Both her son and daughter are “curious,” the royal said. “Gabriella is very curious,” she explained. “She is very intrigued by the world and life in general. She asks lots of questions and demands a lot of attention.”

“As for Jacques, he is curious and observant. More reserved, he is naturally very calm,” Charlene continued.

Though both twins have a shared curiosity, “The conversations I have with Jacques and those with Gabriella are so different, as well as the time spent with them,” she continued.

The wife of Prince Albert expressed her sadness that she wasn’t always able to spend as much time with her twins as she wanted to, telling the outlet (and per Hello!) that it was “difficult to find time to spend one-on-one time with them.” 

She added that one-on-one time was “essential when you are the parents of twins.”

Princess Charlene married Prince Albert in 2011, and their children were born on Dec. 10, 2014. As they grow older — Jacques and Gabriella will hit double digits and turn the milestone age of 10 next month — the twins will occasionally accompany their parents on outings.

After previously calling daughter Gabriella a “pistol,” Prince Albert further opened up last year about his kids’ personalities in an interview with PEOPLE. Of Gabriella, he said she still “has that little mischievous twinkle in her eye. She has her own little personality and sometimes does things that are, you know — she’ll try to use her brother and get him into trouble…”

“But Jacques stands up to her now, and when he’s had enough, says ‘No!’ So he’s not squashed by her strong personality,” he added.

As they make more and more public outings, Albert said Gabriella “can sometimes feel a little uncomfortable around too many people,” so Jacques swoops in to help. “Between them now, Jacques talks more, engages more, in public,” he said.

For their ninth birthday late last year, a new portrait was released of the twins, snapped the month prior on Monaco’s National Day, which commemorated the centennial of Prince Rainier who, along with his wife Princess Grace, founded Monaco’s modern royal dynasty.

Prince Albert, 66, spoke with PEOPLE about his mother, the former Grace Kelly, in an exclusive interview last month as he celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Princess Grace Awards, which has to date awarded more than $19 million to over 900 emerging artists specializing in theater, dance and film. (Princess Grace, who was an Academy Award-winning actress before marrying into Monaco's royal family, died in 1982 following a car accident that September.)

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“I think she would be incredibly proud and thrilled that her legacy has continued this way, and that the foundation and its awards has had a tremendous life-changing impact on these artists,” he said of the 40th anniversary event, the 2024 Princess Grace Awards Gala, held in New York City on Oct. 23 and attended by PEOPLE. 

“They've all expressed that. The appreciation by these young artists is really touching — it creates a community. We stay in touch with our alumni to see how they're doing, and it's an incredible satisfaction to see that they are still connected to the foundation and are thankful for what the foundation has brought to them,” he added.