Reading about Amal Clooney in her first cover interview with Vogue for their May 2018 issue – arguably one of the fashion bible’s most interesting cover personalities – it’s hard to believe there’s something this incredible woman cannot do or achieve.
The long and candid story delves into Amal’s challenging work as an internationally-acclaimed Barrister and human rights lawyer, as well as her personal life since meeting and marrying George Clooney, and welcoming twins Ella and Alexander last year.
“We’ve had some ‘Mamas’ and ‘Dadas,’” Amal told Vogue’s Nathan Heller, who also interviewed George and a number of Amal’s close family members. “George was very careful to ensure that ‘Mama’ was the first word.”
Amal’s super-stardom rose upon her engagement to George Clooney in 2014, despite being a respected name in international law long before that, a position even her husband agrees fully on. “She’s the professional, and I’m the amateur,” he said. “I get to see someone at the absolute top of their game doing their job better than anybody I’ve ever seen.”
The couple met in 2013, ironically at George’s house on Lake Como in Italy, on a day when his parents so happened to be staying with him. A friend of George’s asked if he could bring a guest, who would eventually be his future wife. “Of course she was beautiful,” George said. “But I also thought she was fascinating, and I thought she was brilliant. Her life was incredibly exciting—the clients she was taking on and the superhuman work that she was doing. I was taken with her from the moment I saw her.”
The couple talked late into the evening that night and stayed in touch afterwards, mainly through email at first. It didn’t take long for it to be clear to Amal that something special was brewing, and they shared their first date at one of London’s best restaurants.
“It felt like the most natural thing in the world,” she said. “Before that experience, I always hoped there could be love that was overwhelming and didn’t require any weighing or decision-making. It’s the one thing in life that I think is the biggest determinant of happiness, and it’s the thing you have the least control over. Are you going to meet this person? I was 35 when I met him. It wasn’t obvious that it was going to happen for me. And I wasn’t willing or excited about the idea of getting married or having a family in the absence of that.”
Her husband-to-be was in a similar situation, having been married once before to actress Talia Balsam for a few years and linked to several high-profile women, but who also knew something was different the moment he started dating Amal. And a safari trip to Africa pretty much confirmed that. “[During this safari trip], some giraffes walked up to her. They just came out of the blue. I took a picture of her, and she was smiling. I said to my buddy Ben, ‘You know, I think I should ask her to marry me.’ And Ben said, ‘I think that’s a good idea.’”
Since welcoming Ella and Alexander last June, the Clooneys have had their hands full, and Amal is still learning to juggle the demands of motherhood and those of her career, although she revealed that quality time is unquestionable in the morning. “Between six and eight in the morning we get to have them in our bed—I don’t schedule any calls before eight,” she said. “When I was nursing, it was much more complicated, because there are two. I had all manner of weird cushions and pillows and machines.”
According to Heller, who had the privilege of meeting the Clooney twins in person, Alexander looks just like his father (which is apparently evident to everyone but George), while Ella resembles her mother. How lucky are they?
Sam Jones