Monday, August 04, 2008

First pictures of Brad and Angelina's newborn twins... the most expensive baby snaps ever

These are the pictures the world has been waiting to see - the newest additions to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's growing brood.

The Hollywood couple sold the rights to the first pictures of their newborn twins - Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline - and they are released today for the very first time.

Hello! magazine paid a staggering £7.5million for the photos and they will be the most expensive baby pictures ever.

After a fierce contest between the celebrity magazines, Hello! outbid its rival OK! magazine for the rights to the pictures, and even brought its publication date forward to August 4 to capitalise on the coup.

The issue has been flying off the news stands and is expected to enjoy record sales.

A sales assistant for a WH Smiths in central London told Mail Online: 'The issue has been selling really well. Every other person who comes in is buying it.

'Usually people buy Heat or OK! as well but today it's been mainly Hello!'

In America, People magazine, which did a joint deal with Hello!, took the unusual step of putting the front cover on their internet site.

The front page appeared online at 7pm eastern time last night in a bid to publicise today's magazine issue.

A special edition was rushed out featuring the couple's happy news to coincide with the publication of Hello! magazine.
The babies have certainly been worth the wait - born to arguably Hollywood's most attractive couple, the twins were always going to be gorgeous.

Blessed with their mother's famous large lips, just like their little sister Shiloh before them, these two are bound to be heart-breakers.

And nestling together with their parents - the photos couldn't paint a more perfect family picture.

In the magazine interview, Angelina says: 'It is chaos but we are managing it and having a wonderful time.'

Doting dad Brad, meanwhile, confides: 'Viv is proving to resemble Ange in spirit, attitude and physicality… And Knox, he's a bit of me.'

The Troy star admits he was in awe of Angelina during the pregnancy and subsequent arrival of the twins via caesarean section.

He said: 'I find the process absolutely heroic.'

Brad revealed Angelina is breast-feeding the two babies and has been attempting to feed the two at the same time.

He said: 'We try to get them to eat simultaneously for the sake of time management, but it gets a little crowded at the bar.'

In the accompanying interview, Angelina denied reports she had undergone fertility treatment to 'speed up' becoming pregnant.

She said: 'If they had been conceived through IVF we would have been happy to discuss it.'

The couple have been living on the French Riviera since May and have recently been joined by Brad's parents Jane and William.

Money from the sale of the pictures will be donated to their charity Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which helps disadvantaged children around the world.

The twins have remained hidden from public view since they were born at Lenval hospital in the south of France on July 13.

The tiny babies were born a minute apart - Knox Leon came first weighing 5lbs 3oz, while younger sibling Vivienne was 5lbs.

Their arrival increases the Jolie-Pitt clan to a family of eight, which include their four older children, Maddox, 7, Pax, 4, Zahara, 3, and two-year-old Shiloh.

Jolie, 33, whose late mother Marcheline was French-Canadian and loved visiting France, has also bought a chateau in the country to retain her Gallic heritage.

Brangelina's first biological child, Shiloh Nouvel was born in Namibia in May 2006.

Pictures of her were sold to Hello! for £2million, which the couple donated to charity.

They have also adopted three children: six-year-old Maddox Chivan, from Cambodia; Zahara Marley, aged three, from Ethiopia; and four-year-old Pax Thien from Vietnam.

A magazine insider said: 'This is one of the publishing sensations of the decade - Brad and Angelina are the dream couple of the glossy magazine world and we expect to triple our circulation because of the public's fascination and interest in the couple and their children.'

The American rights to the pictures will go to People magazine, which also published the first images of their daughter Shiloh in 2006.

Once the world's most expensive baby pictures, the stakes were raised last year when the first images of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's twins Max and Emme went for a bank-breaking £3million.

Read the full story and see 17 pages of intimate family photos in today's edition of Hello!

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