THEY ’RE two-and-a-half years old now – never a great age for toddlers, as many a harried parent will tell you. But it’s hard to imagine these tots ever having terrible-two temper tantrums.

Come to think of it, it’s hard to picture their mom with soggy bits of biscuit in her hair and chocolate smeared on her clothes like most mortal mothers.

In fact, every time we see this family, they seem to be more groomed and gorgeous than ever.

Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco made their latest appearance with their perfect pigeon pair at a ceremony at the country’s yacht club to mark the departure of the ecological research ship the Yersin, which left on a three-year world tour.

The Monaco Expeditions ship should have been the star of the show, of course – but all eyes were on Prince Jacques with this glorious head of white-blonde curls and his golden-haired sister, Princess Gabriella.

In a sweet black dress with capped sleeves, locks pinned back from her ivory face with a little white bow, Gabriella seemed to enjoy proceedings thoroughly as she clapped and laughed while perched prettily on her dad’s lap.

Her twin brother, heir to the Monegasque throne, sat quietly on his mom’s knee, every inch the future yachtsman in white trousers and a white polo shirt bearing the Monaco Expeditions logo.

As for Charlene (39), she was elegance personified in a one-shoulder scarlet gown that showed off her toned athletic figure to perfection.

The family were there to support 59-year-old Albert’s charity passion project – the conservation of the world’s oceans. The prince is set to join scientists aboard the ship at several stops as it travels the tropics to assess the ecological state of various marine ecosystems.