Colin Firth, the star of Pride and Prejudice and the Bridget Jones films, has been granted Italian citizenship.

Confirming the granting of citizenship, the Italian interior ministry said the “celebrated” 57-year-old British actor “has married a citizen of our nation and has expressed on many occasions his love for our country.”

The ministry announced the granting of citizenship on Friday – the day that Theresa May travelled to Florence to deliver a key speech about Britain’s departure from the EU.

Mr Firth has spoken publically of his dismay over Brexit, calling it “a disaster of unexpected proportions”.

“Brexit does not have a single positive aspect for me. Many colleagues, including Emma Thompson, are - like me - enthusiastic Europeans. And we still cannot believe it,” he told an Austrian newspaper four months after the last year’s Brexit vote.

But his publicist told The Telegraph earlier this year that the decision to apply for Italian citizenship was nothing to do with Brexit and driven instead by the fact that his family all have Italian passports.

In a statement from his agent on Saturday Mr Firth said he would always be "extremely British" but amidst "uncertainty" his family decided to all get the same citizenships.