The human rights barrister and activist turned 40 this weekend.
The last year was a big one for Amal Clooney.
The high-powered lawyer became a first-time mum after she welcomed twins with husband George in June, and made a well-publicised return to work just three months later to fight for refugees’ rights at the UN.
Add to that various red-carpet events and headline-making donations, and it’s understandable why Hollywood star George wanted to whisk his Beirut-born wife away for a well-deserved break to mark her birthday.
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George Clooney just revealed exactly how he first met Amal
The human rights lawyer, who turned 40 on February 3, was pictured jetting out of LA on a private jet with the Ocean’s Eleven star this weekend on a celebratory excursion.
While little is known about where the couple are ringing in Amal’s birthday, we’re marking her big day by getting to know a little more about the philanthropic activist.
1. She was born in Lebanon, but moved to the UK aged 2
Her family relocated at the start of the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.
2. She speaks English and French, as well as conversational Arabic
3. She studied law at Oxford University and the New York University School of Law
And also completed a clerkship at the Hague.
4. Amal is qualified to practice law in both the UK and the US
She was admitted to the Bar in New York in 2002, and in England and Wales in 2010.
5. She’s going to co-host the Met Gala this year
The style icon will join Rihanna and Donatella Versace at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7 for the event, three years after she last attended.
6. She’s responsible for one of our favourite comebacks
When quizzed by a journalist on what designer she was wearing at a European Court of Human Rights trial, the lawyer laughed and said “Ede and Ravenscroft”, the London tailor behind her legal robes.
7. She’s got plenty of high-profile clients on her books
Amal has worked on cases for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the King of Bahrain and Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister of Ukraine.
8. She helped launch a scholarship in 2015
The Amal Clooney Scholarship was created (together with 100 LIVES) to send one female student from Lebanon to Dilijan each year to enroll in a two-year international baccalaureate program.
9. Her wedding gown was the last bridal piece designed by the late Oscar de la Renta
The delicate lace number was personally created for the then-Amal Alamuddin by the Dominican designer, who passed away just a month after the couple’s Venetian nuptials in 2014.
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10. She didn’t accept George’s proposal straight away
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, the actor revealed his future wife took around half-an-hour to give a reply to his big question.
“I got down on my knee and said, ‘I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you.’ And she kept looking at the ring, and she was looking at me, and she was like, ‘Oh my God,'” the star said.
“And we now know, because there was a playlist, how long it actually took, and it was, like, 25 minutes. Finally, I literally said, ‘Look, I hope the answer is yes, but I need an answer. I’m 52 and I could throw out my hip pretty soon. And she said ‘Oh, yes.’ And it worked out really well.”
Images: Getty
