Bonjour and bienvenue to the Clooneys. Gorgeous George, his wife Amal and their eight-year-old twins have been granted French citizenship. The Hollywood actor has long had a deep streak of Europhilia, owning luxury properties in Berkshire and Lake Como, Italy, as well as his pad in Provence. Located near the village of Brignoles, the Clooneys’ €9 million wine estate spans 425 acres, including an olive grove, swimming pool and tennis court.
In an interview last month with a French radio station, 64-year-old Clooney declared (in English) that ‘I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses’. He also praised France’s privacy laws, citing them as the principal reason he and his wife want to raise their children there. ‘Here, they don’t take photos of kids,’ he said. ‘There aren’t any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That’s number one for us.’
Clooney’s decision to up sticks to France was greeted with delight in both Washington and Paris. ‘Good news!’ proclaimed Donald Trump on social media. ‘George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France.’
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nunez, said he was ‘very pleased’ with the citizenship of the Clooneys, describing it as ‘a great opportunity for our country’. Nunez didn’t elaborate on why it was a great opportunity, although perhaps Clooney might be able to help boost France’s flagging film industry, which last year experienced the lowest cinema attendance in 28 years.
For Emmanuel Macron, the addition of four new citizens will be regarded as a propaganda coup. Last month, the president of the Republic awarded the Légion d’honneur to the creator of the Netflix show Emily in Paris. ‘You make France shine across the world,’ Macron told Darren Star.
Macron will hope that the Clooneys’ decision to settle in Provence will also make France shine at a time when the country is ravaged by insecurity and mass immigration. Trump alluded to the latter when he had a swipe at the Clooneys, remarking that France was ‘in the midst of a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration’. He’s not wrong. On Boxing Day a Malian with a history of violence allegedly stabbed three women on the Metro, just the latest in a lengthening list of outrages apparently perpetrated by foreigners.
Last year Macron’s minister of justice, Gérald Darmanin, admitted that ‘there are no longer any “safe” places’ in France. No one is more aware of this fact that the country’s Jews. On the same day that the Clooneys were added to France’s population, it was revealed that in the past year 3,300 French Jews emigrated to Israel, an increase of 45 per cent on 2024. They no longer feel safe in a country where in 2025 there were 1,163 recorded acts of anti-Semitism.
‘Good news!’ proclaimed Donald Trump. ‘George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France’
Of course, crime and violence very rarely intrude into the lives of France’s elite, although even the former president Francois Hollande was the victim of a burglary last year. When Hollande was in office, he had the use of the president’s summer residence at the Fort de Bregancon. The Clooneys’ new home in Provence is only an hour’s drive away, and perhaps George will be minded to invite the current incumbent over for a game of tennis.
The Democratic party supporter has in the past made no secret for his admiration for the present occupant of the Elysee. ‘Emmanuel Macron’s election sent a very positive signal to the world,’ Clooney cooed in 2017, shortly after Macron’s victory. ‘I have complete confidence in him.’ Does he still? The French certainly don’t. In October Macron’s approval rating dropped to 11 per cent, and the majority of the country are counting down the days to April next year when he will leave the Elysee.
His successor is likely to make Clooney choke on his croissant. The National Rally pair of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are riding high in the polls, and have been for months. Le Pen will discover in a few weeks if she can run or whether her conviction for embezzlement is upheld. If she can’t, 30-year-old Bardella will be the National Rally’s candidate. Bardella praised Trump in a recent interview with the BBC and said he broadly agrees with the president’s bleak warning about Europe’s future as a consequence of mass immigration.
Clooney sees nothing bleak about Europe because he and his ilk are detached from reality. They live in safe, opulent, privileged Europe. In fact Clooney isn’t really living in France at all; he’s living in a French fantasy.
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