George And Amal Clooney's Relationship Timeline
Picture the quintessentially glamourous Hollywood couple, and, chances are, they'll look an awful lot like George and Amal Clooney. George, known for his roles in the likes of "Ocean's Eleven," "Batman & Robin" and "ER," first met his wife, Amal, in 2013. At a glance, they might seem like an unlikely pair. Amal was a British lawyer who lived in London, while George was one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Plus, there was a 16-year age gap between them. Nevertheless, the pair quickly hit it off and began a long-distance relationship.
Just one year after meeting, they tied the knot in Venice, and in 2017, the pair welcomed twins Alexander and Ella. By the sounds of things, their relationship is getting stronger than ever. In fact, as the couple confessed to The View in 2022 (via YouTube), they still haven't had a single argument.
Read on to learn more about George and Amal's love story.
July 2013: George and Amal Clooney met in Italy through a friend
George Clooney met his wife Amal Clooney (nee Alamuddin) in 2013 when he was already 52 years old. At the time, he was one of Hollywood's most famous bachelors. In fact, in 2013, the actor even told GQ he had no interest in settling down. "I haven't had aspirations in that way, ever. I was married in 1989. I wasn't very good at it," he said (via Belfast Telegraph). However, shortly after proclaiming himself a life-long bachelor, George was set up with a British lawyer by a friend while he was staying in Como, Italy (via Daily Mail).
"It was the wildest thing," George later recalled to David Letterman (via YouTube). "A mutual friend of ours said, 'I'm stopping by and can I bring my friend?' And I said, 'Of course.'" Apparently, George then got a call from his agent, who had also met Amal, and he told him they would one day be married. "The funniest thing is my mom and dad were visiting, so my parents were there and we just talked," said George. "And we stayed up all night talking."
Fall 2013: George and Amal sent each other letters before getting together
After their magical meeting in Italy, George and Amal Clooney went their separate ways — but not before exchanging email addresses. The pair began exchanging emails, but George wasn't sure where their relationship was going. "We started writing and I didn't really — I didn't know if she wanted to go out with me," he told David Letterman (via YouTube). "I just thought we were buddies."
As George explained to The Hollywood Reporter, he was worried that Amal thought he was too old for her. "I thought she was beautiful, and I thought she was funny and obviously smart," he said, adding, "She probably thought I was old." Nevertheless, the pair kept in touch. "We were writing each other, emailing, talking, mostly about what was going on in each other's lives, and over a period of time it became clear we were more than just friends," recalled the actor.
October 2013: George and Amal had their first real date in London
After exchanging emails and letters for a few months, both George and Amal Clooney acknowledged that they had a romantic connection. George decided it was time for a real first date — luckily, he was staying in London, Amal's city. So he invited her to visit him at Abbey Road Studios, where he was working on the soundtrack of his film "Monuments Men." "That was a good first date," he recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. "Then we went for dinner. She said, 'Let's go to this place.' It was one of those places that was incredibly hip and chic. And when we came out, there were 50 paparazzi there. But she handled it like a champ. And pretty quickly, things escalated once I was in London."
The pair were indeed pictured leaving the restaurant. At the time, E! Online reported that George had been spotted leaving Berners Tavern with a "mystery woman."
Winter 2013: The pair spent time in London and Cabo San Lucas
After a successful first date in London, George and Amal Clooney spent the next six weeks dating in London. "Pretty quickly, things escalated once I was in London," he told The Hollywood Reporter. In fact, as Amal told Vogue, they saw each other every single day. "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."
As Amal went on to explain, like George, she had practically given up on the idea of getting married. "I was 35 when I met him," she said. "It wasn't obvious that it was going to happen for me." However, during their six weeks in London, she began to realize that she may have found the person she had been waiting for.
After six weeks in London, the pair spent Christmas in Cabo San Lucas.
March 2014: George realized that he wanted to marry Amal on a trip to Kenya
A few months after Christmas in Cabo, the couple set off for another vacation — this time, a safari in Kenya. It was here that George had a life-changing epiphany. "Amal loves giraffes; they're her favorite animal," George told The Hollywood Reporter. "She went to this place called Giraffe Manor, where the giraffes stick their heads through the windows and kiss you." George happened to take a candid photo of Amal with the giraffes. "Some giraffes walked up to her," he told Vogue. "They just came out of the blue. I took a picture of her, and she was smiling."
Later, back in Los Angeles, George happened to show the photo to his friend, actor Ben Weiss. "I said to my buddy Ben, 'You know, I think I should ask her to marry me,'" George recalled. "And Ben said, 'I think that's a good idea.'" And just like that, the decision was made.
April 2014: George proposed to Amal
As soon as George Clooney decided that he wanted to marry Amal, he began planning the perfect proposal — unfortunately, things didn't exactly go to plan. "It was a disaster," George bluntly told Drew Barrymore (via YouTube). "I planned it out, I'm not stupid, planned the whole thing out." George's plan was to make Amal dinner and then pop the question during a particularly romantic song. "I've got a playlist with my Aunt Rosemary singing and I'm gonna get down and I'm going to give her the ring right at the song, 'Why Shouldn't I?'" he explained.
When the song came on, George asked Amal to grab something from a drawer behind her — instead, inside the drawer, she found the ring. Unfortunately, Amal didn't realize the ring had been planted for her. "She looks at it and she's like, 'There's a ring in there,'" George said. "And I'm like on my knee, like..." After all of the confusion, Amal didn't accept the proposal until, as George recalled, "this horrible song called, 'Goody Goody'" came on. Not exactly the romantic proposal he had in mind!
September 2014: The pair tied the knot in Venice and honeymooned in England
George and Amal Clooney married in a quiet ceremony in a hotel in Venice on September 27, 2014. Guests included Matt Damon, Anna Wintour, Cindy Crawford, Bill Murray, Bono, and Emily Blunt. As one source from the hotel told Us Weekly, "Staff were preparing bouquets, table arrangements and other floral designs well into the night. Everything they were using was white with green flourishes, lots of roses and peonies being used." Amal wore a gorgeous off-the-shoulder Oscar de la Renta lace gown. As Amal told Vogue, "George and I wanted a wedding that was romantic and elegant, and I can't imagine anyone more able than Oscar to capture this mood in a dress."
After their wedding in Italy, the couple returned to their newly purchased home on Sonning Eye, a small island in the Thames near London. As Amal recalled to Vogue, they spent their time camping out on the unfurnished property.
2015: The red carpet debut and a positive outlook
In January 2015, George and Amal Clooney made their red carpet debut at the Golden Globes, where George received a lifetime achievement award. "Amal, whatever alchemy it is that brought us together, I couldn't be more proud to be your husband," he said in his acceptance speech. George even wore his wedding tux at the event, while Amal wore a stunning one-shoulder black gown (via Glamour). Amal made quite the impression at the event, with Marie Claire even dedicating a whole article to her classy look on the red carpet.
A few months later, George opened up to People about how things were going for the newlyweds. As the actor explained, the marriage had been nothing short of life-changing for him and his outlook on life. "All I know is that it sort of changed everything in terms of what I thought my future — my personal future — was going to be," he said. As he explained, it had made him more optimistic than ever about his future.
April 2016: George and Amal settle into married life
Two years into his marriage with Amal, George Clooney continued to gush about her. In an interview with Esquire, he was asked what he wanted. One thing he didn't want was a better relationship. "I've never been happier in a relationship by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "At 52 I found the love of my life and I'm really happy."
That same year, Amal also opened up about her marriage to George. As she explained to Today (via YouTube), she had realized that while being married to an A-lister celebrity was exciting, it also came with a responsibility to use her place in the spotlight to raise awareness about her human rights work, too. "If there's more attention paid for whatever reason to [my work] then I think that's good," she said. "You know, I think there is a certain responsibility that comes with that. I think I'm exercising it in the appropriate manner by continuing to do this kind of work."
October 2016: George and Amal move to New York
In late 2016, the happy couple bought a new property in the midtown area of New York City. According to Page Six, their new permanent residence was in the brand new luxury apartment building One Hundred East Fifty-Third Street. "The high-profile couple did not purchase the penthouse, but instead opted for a high-floor residence in the upcoming building," said a source. The source also explained that the building was close to the United Nations, where Amal often worked, and close to Columbia Law School, where she was teaching. According to The New York Times, Amal had already become a popular New York City celebrity in 2015 after being spotted by the paparazzi looking flawless and impressing locals with her intelligence and diligence in her work.
According to Luxatic, their new apartment building featured its own restaurant, a swimming pool, a library, a fitness center, and a concierge. Rumor has it their apartment cost $14.75 million (via Elle).
June 2017: George and Amal have twins
In 2017, George and Amal Clooney welcomed their twins, Alexander and Ella. "This morning Amal and George welcomed Ella and Alexander Clooney into their lives," read a statement. "Ella, Alexander and Amal are all healthy, happy and doing fine. George is sedated and should recover in a few days" (via The Guardian).
For George, becoming a father to twins was nothing short of terrifying. When he found out that twins were on the way, he said to Drew Barrymore, "It was such a disaster. I was like, are you kidding me? Now it's the greatest thing in the world, [but] I was terrified then" (via Yahoo!).
Since becoming parents, the couple has tried to find time to spend as a family, despite their busy schedules. "Between six and eight in the morning we get to have them in our bed — I don't schedule any calls before eight," Amal told Vogue in 2018. In fact, as George got older, he and Amal began to re-evaluate their future plans — especially now that they were parents. "We're going to spend time with our kids and we're gonna travel again," George told People when his twins were four. "We have a house with a lake and a rope swing. I can still do the rope swing at 60, I'm not sure about 80."
June 2018: Amal gives a tribute to George
While George Clooney is often the one to gush about his partner, his wife Amal has also opened up about her feelings for him. In June 2018, she gave a speech at the AFI Life Achievement Awards that showed just how much she respects him (via YouTube). As Amal explained in her speech, she was a little nervous. "It's somehow easier for me to address a court on behalf of a detainee than to speak publicly, as I'm doing for the first time tonight, about my husband," she said. "I do so out of immense pride in all that he has achieved."
Even though Amal felt sheepish about gushing about her husband in public, she went on to give one of the sweetest, most loving speeches in Hollywood history. "Firstly, he is a gentleman, he is a gentleman in every sense of the word," she said. She also told the crowd that George was "incredibly generous" and morally conscious. "These attributes also make him an amazing husband and father," she said, adding, "He is the person who has my complete admiration and also the person whose smile makes me melt every time. My love, what I have found with you is the great love that I also hoped existed and seeing you with our children, Ella and Alexander, is the greatest joy in my life."
January 2021: George opens up about his loved-up lockdown with Amal
During the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, many couples found themselves bickering and fighting more than normal — the same cannot be said for George and Amal Clooney. In fact, this seemingly perfect couple only got stronger the more time they spent cooped up together.
One way the couple stayed close during lockdown was to write each other love letters. "Even in lockdown, I'll write a letter and slip it on her desk, or she'll write a letter and leave it under the pillow," the actor confessed to AARP. "I'm a big believer in letters."
George also spoke to Howard Stern about his lockdown experience (via YouTube). "The lockdown has been funny because I've been back doing the things I used to do a long time ago, which is do seven loads of wash in the day and I'm mopping the floor and I'm mopping the house," he said. George even called himself "Mr. Mom," saying, "It's literally like my mother in 1964."
November 2022: George and Amal's relationship is stronger than ever
As of 2023, George and Amal Clooney seem to be as strong as ever after almost a decade of marriage. How do they do it? Well, according to George, it's all down to their maturity. "When you're 61, which apparently I am... As you get older, you're kind of looking at things a little differently," he told E! News. "Because I started [my marriage] so late, I'm not allowed to give advice to anyone. I have to look at it as if I'm the luckiest human being alive and then just appreciate that."
As an older husband and father, George is a lot easier going than he might have been as a young man. He knows how to "find all the things that we have in common and not worry about the little things," as he put it. "Amal wants to paint the wall yellow. And if I was younger, I feel like that's a stupid colour. And now you just go, 'I don't care. Who cares if a wall's yellow?'"