As Britain prepares to split from the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's father seems to want to get closer and has applied for French citizenship.
Stanley Johnson told broadcaster RTL on Thursday that he was in the process of "reclaiming" his French identity.
"It is not a question of becoming French. If I understand correctly, I am French. My mother was born in France. Her mother was completely French, as was her grandfather," he told RTL, which reported that Johnson is putting together a French citizenship request. "So for me, it is a question of reclaiming what I already have.”
The elder Johnson, 80, is a former member of the European Parliament who backed remaining in the EU in Britain's 2016 membership referendum. He has since expressed support for his son as the prime minister led the U.K. out of the bloc.
Once Britain leaves the EU's economic embrace at 11 p.m. (11 p.m. GMT) on Thursday, Britons will lose the automatic right to live and work in the 27 EU countries, while those with dual nationality will still be able to do so.
"I will always be European. That is certain," Stanley Johnson said, according to remarks carries by The Associated Presse (AP). "You cannot tell the English: 'You are not European.' Europe is always more than the common market, more than the European Union. But having said that, yes, having a link like that to the European Union is important."
His son Boris was the public face of the Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum and says Britain can "prosper mightily" as a fully sovereign nation outside what he sees as an overly bureaucratic EU.
But on Wednesday the prime minister sounded a more conciliatory note as parliament approved a new trade deal with the EU, saying: "This is not the end of Britain as a European country. We are in many ways the quintessential European civilization ... and we will continue to be that," as reported by Reuters.
The United Kingdom officially leaves the EU's orbit on Thursday night, after an often strained 48-year liaison with the European project.
