George and Amal Clooney are now officially French, along with their 8-year-old twins, thanks to a decree published in France's official government gazette declaring the celebrity family has been granted French citizenship, the Guardian reports. The move formalizes a plan George Clooney had hinted at in December, when he praised France's strict protections for children's privacy and relative lack of paparazzi. "Here, they don't take photos of kids. There aren't any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That's number one for us," he told RTL radio, adding that after more than a year of lessons he still struggles with the language but loves French culture. His human rights lawyer wife, on the other hand, is fluent in French.
Clooney has long split his life between the US and Europe. He bought an estate on Italy's Lake Como in 2002, and he and Amal, who is British-Lebanese, later acquired a historic manor in England. In 2021, they added a former wine estate in southern France, the Domaine du Canadel near Brignoles, which Clooney recently described as the place where the family is "happiest." They also maintain homes in New York and Kentucky. Earlier this year, Clooney spoke about growing up in Kentucky and wanting to get out, CNN reports. "Now I find myself back in that life," he said while talking about the couple's reluctance to raise their kids in Hollywood. "I drive a tractor and all those things. It's the best chance of a normal life."
In another interview in October, he talked about the family's life in France, Fox News reports. "We live on a farm in France. A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it. But now, for them, it's like—they're not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life."
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