There is much speculation about who Robert Pattinson’s partner will be for the evening of December 14, 2018. Rumors suggest that he will be dating American film star, Katy Perry. However, it seems equally likely that he will be attending a party with friends.
The reason why this is such a hot topic is that Katy Perry is English. Not only is she English, but she is also a citizen of the United Kingdom. Does this mean that, in some way, Robert Pattinson is also English?
According to the British government, a person is English if they are both born and live in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland. It does not matter where a person is born, so long as they are entitled to live and work in the country.
This definition includes people who are entitled to live and work in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, even if they were born in another country. In the case of Robert Pattinson, this would make him English. Is this true? Is Robert Pattinson really English? Let’s find out.
Is Robert Pattinson Really English?
People have been asking this question ever since the world found out that Robert Pattinson is dating Katy Perry. To be exact, the question marks appear to have begun when an Instagram user tagged Robert in a photo of herself with Katy Perry. In the photo, both women are posing with a sign that says “Katy Perry” on it. This, in and of itself, is not too strange. Plenty of people get their sign done with the hashtag #katyperry, which is a popular way to show off a photo with the songwriter on it.
However, many of those people also posted photos of themselves with the “England, Ireland, Scotland” flag on it. This is a clear acknowledgement that they are also English, and it is usually done as a joke. The vast majority of people who did this were not trying to be disrespectful; they were simply trying to be funny. Unfortunately, it is not a funny matter when you are the one on the receiving end of such jokes. Especially when they are about your country of origin.
Thankfully, it is not just the Instagram jokes. People have also been asking whether or not Robert is English since the beginning of 2018. This is mainly due to the fact that, for a short period of time, his Twitter handle was “@EnglishRob”. Now, there is no such thing as a fake Twitter handle, so we know for sure that he is not English.
In February 2018, after Katy Perry split from Russell Brand, she deleted her Instagram account. Shortly after, her fans began accusing Robert of being her instagram manager. To refute this, Perry’s team revealed that she had previously been signed to an agency called One Plus Management. In the One Plus Management Instagram bio, it mentions that the agency was “Established in 1995 and headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Tokyo”.
This has not stopped the rumors about Robert Pattinson being English. Most recently, a Redditor posted a thread about the issue. The thread has been voted up more than 400 times and has almost 1,700 comments. Many of the comments are in support of the English origin story for Robert Pattinson. However, some of the comments contradict this. Take a look at some of the most interesting comments below:
Why Do People Think Robert Pattinson Is English?
The answer to this question is very simple. Robert Pattinson’s parents are both from England. This makes him eligible to claim English citizenship. In order to be eligible to claim citizenship in the first place, he must be either a British citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the country. He cannot be from another country, so long as he is entitled to live and work in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland. Having English origins will certainly help him claim this citizenship. It is not a difficult matter to become eligible to claim English citizenship. All he has to do is:
- be born in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland
- be either a British citizen or a lawfully permanent resident of the country
- not be from another country
- not commit any crimes after landing in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland
- be able to speak, read, and write the English language
- not be listed on any terrorist watch-list
- not be subject to any kind of detainment or arrest without reasonable grounds
- be able to prove his identity
From a genetic standpoint, Robert Pattinson’s ancestral links to England are clear. His grandparents were born in London and came to the United Kingdom from Canada in the early 1900s. His mother, Vanessa Paradis, is French, which makes him a French-British descendant. This is one important reason why people think that he is English. If he had been born in another country, it is highly unlikely that he would have been given the opportunity to claim British citizenship. To put this in context, there are only 400,000 eligible British citizenships available each year. This is why it is so important for him to be able to claim English citizenship. It will give him access to the largest nationality group in the world. This is especially beneficial for an actor, as his ability to work in Europe or America will be greatly increased.
Is Robert Pattinson Ineligible To Claim Norwegian Citizenship?
Another interesting question that some people have been asking is whether or not Robert Pattinson is eligible to claim Norwegian citizenship. This is mainly because he was born in St. Bart’s Hospital in London and his father was a medical doctor who worked for the World Health Organization.
As a German citizen and a WHO doctor, his father was of eligible to claim German citizenship. Does this mean that Robert is also eligible to claim German citizenship?
As mentioned before, in order to be eligible to claim English citizenship, Robert Pattinson must be either a British citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the country. However, in order to be eligible to claim Norwegian citizenship, he must either:
- be a citizen of Norway
- be a resident of Norway with an expired residence permit
- be a long-term visitor who does not have a residence permit
- be an undocumented immigrant
- be the child of an undocumented immigrant
- be the spouse of an undocumented immigrant
- be the parent of a child who is an undocumented immigrant
- be entitled to stay in Norway for longer than permitted
Being born in a hospital would appear to make one automatically eligible to claim citizenship by birth in Norway. However, as an adult, he would still need to fulfill the other requirements in order to be able to claim Norwegian citizenship. This means that he would have to live in Norway, pass the civil service exam, and pay taxes. The amount of taxes that he would need to pay would be based on his income. If he makes a certain amount of money, he will have to pay a lot in taxes. This may not seem like a lot to some, but it is definitely a lot for someone who earns below the poverty line. In fact, this may make some countries legally bar him from gaining citizenship in their country. In these situations, he would have to choose between being an English or Irish citizen.