PARIS (AP) — Call them Monsieur and Madame Clooney.

The French government says George Clooney, his wife Amal and their twins Ella and Alexander have obtained French citizenship.

The naturalizations of the Kentucky-born star of the heist film series “Ocean’s” and his family were announced last weekend in the Journal Officiel, where French government decrees are published.

The government notice indicated that human rights lawyer Amal Clooney was naturalized under her maiden name, Amal Alamuddin. He also noted that George Clooney’s middle name is Timothy.

The couple purchased a property in France in 2021. In an interview with Esquire in October, Clooney described his “farm in France” as his primary residence, a decision the 64-year-old actor and his 47-year-old wife made with their children in mind.

Amal Clooney and George Clooney, here at an October event for their film
Amal Clooney and George Clooney, here in October at an event for their film “Jay Kelly” in London, are officially French citizens.

Samir Hussein via Getty Images

“I was worried about raising our children in Los Angeles, in the culture of Hollywood,” she told the magazine. “I don’t want them running around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them comparing them to someone else’s famous kids.”

Growing up far from the spotlight in France, “they don’t use their iPads, you know?” said. “They dine with adults and have to take the dishes home. They have a much better life.”

George Clooney’s representatives did not respond Monday to The News’ request for comment. It was unclear whether he retained his U.S. citizenship. Amal Clooney was born in Lebanon and raised in the United Kingdom. The 8-year-old twins were born in London.

The French government’s Interior Ministry did not explain why the Clooneys were eligible for French citizenship, but said in a statement to the AP that the couple “followed a rigorous procedure” with security checks and interviews required as part of the naturalization process.

View of the town of Brignoles, France, where the Clooneys' Canadel estate is located.
View of the town of Brignoles, France, where the Clooneys’ Canadel estate is located.

Arnold Jerocki via Getty Images

Non-French residents in France have multiple possible routes to naturalization, even if they are deemed to have skills and talents that would allow them to provide what the government describes as “important services to France.”

In recent media interviews, when he was promoting “Jay Kelly,” Clooney said he is trying to teach himself French using a language learning app, but it is still “horrible, horrible.” He said his wife and children speak the language perfectly.

“They speak French in front of me so they can say terrible things about me to my face and I don’t know it,” he joked in statements to French broadcaster Canal+.

French media have reported that the Clooneys live part-time in their luxurious 18th-century villa outside the southern French town of Brignoles, where they can keep a low profile and their children are protected from unauthorized photographs by French privacy laws.

Brignoles Mayor Didier Brémond told broadcaster BFMTV on Tuesday that the Clooneys are “a very simple and very accessible family” and noted that the actor shops in the city and attended the opening of his cinema. Their decision to become French citizens testifies to “their love for our country,” the mayor said.

“He wants to live normally here and that’s what he’s trying to do,” he said.

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News writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Maria Sherman in New York contributed to this report.