They are the ultimate million-dollar babes.
Angelina Jolie's newborn twins - a boy called Knox Leon and a girl named Vivienne Marcheline - may be barely a few hours old but already their first photos are worth a fortune.
They were delivered by caesarean section on Saturday night at a hospital in the south of France with their father, Brad Pitt, present for the birth.
Their status as the offspring of Hollywood's highest-profile couple has led to an unidentified American magazine reportedly bidding £5.5million for the first official portrait of them.
Angelina Jolie's newborn twins - a boy called Knox Leon and a girl named Vivienne Marcheline - may be barely a few hours old but already their first photos are worth a fortune.
They were delivered by caesarean section on Saturday night at a hospital in the south of France with their father, Brad Pitt, present for the birth.
Their status as the offspring of Hollywood's highest-profile couple has led to an unidentified American magazine reportedly bidding £5.5million for the first official portrait of them.
But experts said the figure could go even higher.
Publicist Max Clifford estimated that the pictures could fetch £10million, 'which would make it the biggest baby deal ever'. The proceeds are to go to charity.
The babies were born at the Lenval hospital on the exclusive Promenade des Anglais waterfront drive in Nice, with Vivienne weighing 5lb and her brother a fraction more.
Miss Jolie's doctor Michel Sussmann said: 'The parents and the babies are in excellent health. Everything is fine. The operation went just perfectly.
Publicist Max Clifford estimated that the pictures could fetch £10million, 'which would make it the biggest baby deal ever'. The proceeds are to go to charity.
The babies were born at the Lenval hospital on the exclusive Promenade des Anglais waterfront drive in Nice, with Vivienne weighing 5lb and her brother a fraction more.
Miss Jolie's doctor Michel Sussmann said: 'The parents and the babies are in excellent health. Everything is fine. The operation went just perfectly.
'Angelina is in very good spirits. Brad Pitt was at her side. The mother and father are very, very happy.'
He said the caesarean section had been planned for a long time but the date had been brought forward 'for medical reasons' so the babies could be born 'in the best conditions'.
He said 33-year-old Miss Jolie was under epidural and able to speak to a 'perfectly calm' Pitt during the birth.
Dr Sussmann said Miss Jolie would stay in the hospital for a few days.
The actress is then expected to depart as she arrived - in a helicopter taking off from the roof of the building, most likely in the dead of night to avoid being photographed.
The couple chose the name Marcheline after Miss Jolie's mother Marcheline Bertrand, also an actress, who died of cancer last year.
Miss Bertrand raised Miss Jolie and her brother, James Haven, after divorcing their father, actor Jon Voight, when Miss Jolie was three.
The arrival of the twins brings the couple's family to six. They are already parents to three adopted children: Cambodian boy Maddox, six, Vietnamese boy Pax Thien, four, and Ethiopian girl Zahara, three.
Their natural daughter Shiloh, two, was born in Namibia in 2006.
He said the caesarean section had been planned for a long time but the date had been brought forward 'for medical reasons' so the babies could be born 'in the best conditions'.
He said 33-year-old Miss Jolie was under epidural and able to speak to a 'perfectly calm' Pitt during the birth.
Dr Sussmann said Miss Jolie would stay in the hospital for a few days.
The actress is then expected to depart as she arrived - in a helicopter taking off from the roof of the building, most likely in the dead of night to avoid being photographed.
The couple chose the name Marcheline after Miss Jolie's mother Marcheline Bertrand, also an actress, who died of cancer last year.
Miss Bertrand raised Miss Jolie and her brother, James Haven, after divorcing their father, actor Jon Voight, when Miss Jolie was three.
The arrival of the twins brings the couple's family to six. They are already parents to three adopted children: Cambodian boy Maddox, six, Vietnamese boy Pax Thien, four, and Ethiopian girl Zahara, three.
Their natural daughter Shiloh, two, was born in Namibia in 2006.
Miss Jolie arrived at the Lenval hospital in late June, provoking a media circus with photographers desperate for a picture of the mother-to-be.
Yesterday news of the births spread like wildfire through the streets and markets of Nice.
The mayor, Christian Estrosi, seized the opportunity to promote his city by arriving at the hospital to sign the birth certificates wearing a smart suit and full make-up for the TV cameras.
Yesterday news of the births spread like wildfire through the streets and markets of Nice.
The mayor, Christian Estrosi, seized the opportunity to promote his city by arriving at the hospital to sign the birth certificates wearing a smart suit and full make-up for the TV cameras.
'I congratulate the happy parents, who have chosen our city for this happy event,' he said. 'The newborns are, history will not forget it, real Nicois, citizens of Nice.'
Miss Jolie and Pitt, 44 - who met on the set of 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith, when Pitt was still married to Friends star Jennifer Aniston - own a 17th century villa in the village of Correns in Provence.
Miss Jolie and Pitt, 44 - who met on the set of 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith, when Pitt was still married to Friends star Jennifer Aniston - own a 17th century villa in the village of Correns in Provence.





