Getting to Know Her

10 things you may not know about Amal Clooney, from her impressive career to life with George


From her Lebanese roots and prestigious education to her international legal career and family life, there is plenty you may not know about Amal Clooney.


Amal Clooney is seen arriving into Venice ahead of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival 2025 on August 26, 2025 in Venice© Jacopo Raule
SEPTEMBER 7, 2026 5:47 PM EDT

Amal Clooney married one of Hollywood's biggest stars in George Clooney, but has enjoyed a very successful career in her own right as a human rights lawyer.

Did you know these facts about Amal Clooney?

1/10 Birth and Relocation to UK

Amal Clooney attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 © Jason Kempin
Amal grew up in the UK

Amal, whose name means "hopes" in Arabic, was born in Lebanon in 1978 but she her and family fled the country due to the Lebanese Civil War when she was just two years of age.

Amal, along with her three siblings, settled in Buckinghamshire after relocating to Britain.

2/10 Education

Amal Clooney© Dimitris Giannetos
Amal Clooney is beauty and brains, there is no dispute about it

Amal earned degrees from two prestigious universities - a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence from St Hugh's College at Oxford University and a Master of Laws from New York University's School of Law.

In New York, Amal received the Jack J. Katz Memorial Award for excellence in entertainment law and also spent a semester working in the office of lawyer and jurist Sonia Sotomayor – then a United States Court of Appeals judge.


3/10 Legal Work

Amal started her legal career in New York City in 2002, where she worked for the firm Sullivan and Cromwell LP and specialised in criminal defence before moving to The Hague, Netherlands, to complete work at the International Courts of Justice.

Amal Clooney arrives for the hearing in the case Perincek vs Switzerland, at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France on January 28, 2015. © Anadolu
Amal Clooney arrives for the hearing in the case Perincek vs Switzerland, at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France on January 28, 2015.


4/10 Notable Clients

Human rights activist Nadia Murad with her lawyer Amal Clooney © Drew Angerer
Human rights activist Nadia Murad with her lawyer Amal Clooney

Amal has represented several high-profile figures during her legal career, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Nobel Prize laureate Nadia Murad.


5/10 Marriage to George Clooney

The festival is a full circle moment for the couple© Backgrid UK/The Grosby Group
George Clooney and Amal Clooney are one of the most popular Hollywood couples

Amal met Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney through a mutual friend in July 2013 and the pair got engaged the following year.

The pair got married in a private ceremony in Venice, Italy in September 2014, with guests in attendance including Matt Damon, Cindy Crawford and Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.


6/10 Children

Amal Clooney looked effortlessly elegant in a black embroidered dress as she attended the family's charity gala in Lake Como.© Backgrid UK/The Grosby Group
Amal and George Clooney are always very private when it comes to their children

Amal and George welcomed twins Alexander and Ella in June 2017 and have taken strict measures to keep their children out of the spotlight. Explaining why they gave their children traditional names, George told AARP Magazine in 2021: "I didn't want, like, weird-ass names for our kids.

"They're already going to have enough trouble. It's hard being the son of somebody famous and successful."


7/10 Clooney Foundation for Justice

Amal and George founded human rights organisation the Clooney Foundation for Justice in 2016.

The foundation's chief aim is to provide free legal support to victims of human rights abuses in over 40 countries worldwide.

Amal Clooney attends the Clooney Foundation For Justice's The Albies at The Natural History Museum on October 03, 2025 in London© Mike Marsland
Amal Clooney attends the Clooney Foundation For Justice's The Albies at The Natural History Museum on October 03, 2025 in London

8/10 Championing Women

Amal Clooney delivers her Keynote Speech on stage during Pennsylvania Conference for Women 2018 © Gilbert Carrasquillo
Amal Clooney delivers her Keynote Speech on stage during Pennsylvania Conference for Women 2018

Amal has spoken of how she wishes to mentor other women who want to enter the legal profession.

She told Vogue in 2018: "I remember all the stages in my career where I almost didn't have enough confidence to try for something (and) almost didn't have the guts to follow something I was excited about doing, because I didn't know anyone else who'd done it or other people who make me question it."


9/10 Speaks Several Languages

 Amal Clooney at the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards.© Getty Images
Amal Clooney at the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Amal is fluent in both English and French, and can also speak conversational Arabic.


10/10 Party Animal

George and Amal Clooney arrived at Ivo Restaurant by boat in Venice, Italy. © Splash News/The Grosby Group
George and Amal Clooney arrived at Ivo Restaurant by boat in Venice, Italy.

Despite her high-profile job, Amal is still capable of letting her hair down.

Her mother Baria Alamuddin told Vogue, "All my family, we are party animals. Amal partied hard and worked hard."