Boris Johnson's father Stanley has become a French citizen after successfully applying to the country for nationality. Mr Johnson applied for French citizenship in November last year.
A six-month waiting period during which France justice ministry was able to object has elapsed, and Mr Johnson is now French, reports The Mirror. Mr Johnson previously said his bid for citizenship was "a question of obtaining what I already have".
French law usually stops the offspring of citizens successfully claiming nationality if they have been abroad for over 50 years without making use of their rights. However, a clause does mean such a person can be considered if they prove "concrete ties of a cultural, professional, economic or family nature".
France's justice ministry said in a statement: "Based on the facts in his application, and without a refusal by the justice minister, Mr Stanley Johnson acquired French nationality on 18th May, 2022. This decision concerns only Mr Stanley Johnson and does not extend to his descendants."
Stanley Johnson was born in 1940 in Penzance, Cornwall, the son of Osman Kemal (later known as Wilfred Johnson) and Irene Williams (daughter of Marie Louise de Pfeffel).
Johnson's maternal grandmother's parents were Hubert Freiherr von Pfeffel (born in Munich in the Kingdom of Bavaria) and his wife Hélène Arnous-Rivière. Hubert von Pfeffel was the son of Karl Freiherr von Pfeffel (born in Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony) by his marriage in Augsburg on 16 February 1836 to Karolina von Rothenburg (born in the Free City of Frankfurt), herself said to be the illegitimate daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg by Friederike Porth.
During the 1970s, Stanley moved his family to Brussels, Belgium, while he was working for the European Commission.
Stanley previously told radio station RTL in December 2020 he had applied for a French passport because: "If I understand it correctly, I am French. For me it's a question of obtaining what I already have and I am very happy about that.
"I will always be European, that’s for sure. You can’t tell the English 'you’re not European'."
