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Actor George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney attend the "Money Monster" premiere during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on May 12, 2016 in Cannes, France© Clemens Bilan,Getty

George and Amal Clooney's decade of love: From unlikely meeting to Venetian wedding

The Wolfs actor and the human rights lawyer are celebrating their wedding anniversary

Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
September 27, 2024
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Congratulations to George and Amal Clooney who are celebrating a decade of wedded bliss. 

The Hollywood power couple became husband and wife in a stunning ceremony in Venice, Italy, which was covered exclusively by HELLO!

Ten years and two children later, the Ocean's 11 actor, 63, and the human rights barrister, 46, are still going strong and relish living a "low-key" life with their seven-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella.

Amal Clooney and George Clooney attend the "Wolfs" red carpet during the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 01, 2024 in Venice, Italy.© Getty Images
Amal Clooney and George Clooney attend the "Wolfs" red carpet during the 81st Venice International Film

To celebrate their 'Tin' anniversary, we're taking a look back at their love story, from where they met to their gorgeous homes dotted all over the world and the sweet anecdotes about life as parents.

Click through the gallery to take a look back at their love story...

George and Amal: ten years of their rock-solid love

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View of George Clooney's Italian house, Villa Oleandra, situated on Lake Como's south-western shores, in Laglio, just 5 Kms from Cernobbio© GIUSEPPE CACACE,Getty

Where George and Amal met

Their love story, romantically, begins in Italy.

In 2013, George, a Hollywood heartthrob whom many assumed would indefinitely remain an eligible bachelor, held a dinner party at his enormous villa on Lake Como.

Amal Alamuddin, who was, by that time, highly esteemed in her career but not necessarily known to the wider public, was brought along as the guest of a mutual friend.

The Oscar-winning actor told British Vogue of that life-changing evening: "Of course she was beautiful, 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 dinner went on into the night and with the Italian lakes providing the ultimate romantic backdrop, sparks immediately flew between them. By early 2014, they were engaged.

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US actor George Clooney ( L) and his Lebanon-born British fiancee Amal Alamuddin take a taxiboat upon their arrival in Venice on September 26, 2014, on the eve of their wedding.    AFP PHOTO / ANDREAS SOLARO        (Photo credit should read ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)© ANDREAS SOLARO

A Venetian wedding of dreams

Amal and George, perhaps unsurprisingly, chose to hold their big day in Italy. Opting for the romantic city of Venice, the wedding was exclusively covered by HELLO!.

Naturally, the guest list was star-studded and made up of family and close friends of the bride and groom. 

Amal, who was wearing a custom-made French lace Oscar de la Renta gown, and George, in a custom Giorgio Armani tuxedo, exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony before hosting a larger reception attended by fellow A-listers including Matt Damon, Bono, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber.

George told HELLO! at the time: "It's such a small group, we felt that they were all part of the ceremony."

He added: "My verdict on being Mr and Mrs Clooney? It feels pretty damn great."

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The property belonging to George and Amal Clooney on the banks of the river Thames, in Sonning, UK© picture alliance,Getty

Building a family home

The same year they become husband and wife, George and Amal lay down roots in the British countryside. 

The couple bought a stunning, 17th-century Grade-II listed building in Sonning Eye – just up the road from Sonning-on-Thames village on the Oxfordshire-Berkshire border – but George and Amal put their own stamp on the building by undertaking some renovations on the £12 million house.

It has multiple bedrooms and reception rooms, a study each for George and Amal, a cinema for screenings where the Oscar-winner edits a lot of his work, a huge entry hall with high ceilings and plenty of beautiful English architecture.

MORE: George and Amal Clooney's eye-watering property empire worth millions

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George Clooney in black tie and Amal Clooney in lilac dress © Getty

Amal & George become parents

Three years later, George and Amal's world was changed forever when they welcomed their fraternal twins.

Ella and Alexander were born on June 6, 2017, at St. Mary's Hospital in London, where Prince William and the Princess of Wales also welcomed all three of their children.

At the time, a statement was shared with HELLO! from the new parents, featuring George's quick wit: "This morning Amal and George welcomed Ella and Alexander Clooney into their lives.

"Ella, Alexander and Amal are all healthy, happy and doing fine. George is sedated and should recover in a few days."

Ahead of the birth, George joked he wanted to name the twins after his tequila brand. 

"My wife says I can't name them Casa and Amigos. That's the one thing I'm not allowed to do."

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George and Amal Clooney pictured with Brignoles' mayor Didier Brémond © Facebook

Quiet life amid quest for privacy

Although they're one of the most well-known couples in the showbiz industry, George and Amal have been fiercely protective of their children.

They have never shown their faces in the public eye and they rarely even speak about them in interviews.

In fact, in a recent interview with GQ, George reiterated how important it was to them that Alexander and Ella are protected. 

MORE: George and Amal Clooney 'go unnoticed' new life in Provence

The actor explained that he and his family don't have the opportunity to go about their business freely in a crowded area without being disturbed.

"There's never been that like, 'Hey, let's take a walk through Central Park and not get hammered.' It just hasn’t happened yet. I have a goal of trying to protect, I don't want pictures of my kids.

"We deal in very serious subject matters, with very serious bad guys, and we don't want to have photos of our kids out there. So we have to work hard at trying to stay private, and it's tricky, as you can imagine."

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amal clooney pink dress© Getty

Ella and Alexander's personalities

However, in the same interview, which was a joint profile of George with his Wolfs co-star and close friend Brad Pitt, fans were given an insight into little Alexander and Ella's personalities.

Amal appeared during the chat which was taking place at Brad's Château Miraval estate in Provence with the twins and was quoted saying: "The kids were like, 'Is this all the same house?'" about the famed property.

The kids are later depicted as enthusiastically "climbing all over" Brad, who asks them whether they are fans of animals, and suggests: "We have a bunch of animals over there that need feeding," receiving cheers from Ella and Alexander in return. 

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