Inside the Clooneys’ lavish 10-year marriage…kids’ £90k playhouse, £40m homes & why George gave pals £10m cash in cases
HE was once the world’s most eligible bachelor who bet Nicole Kidman $10,000 he would remain unmarried and childless.
And Amal Alamuddin said she was “quite resigned to the idea that I was going to be a spinster” before she fell for George Clooney.
But this genetically-blessed power couple will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary tomorrow, and they’re bound to do it in style.
Mr and Mrs Clooney have certainly shown that they like to live the high life over the past decade.
Since officially joining forces at their £2million wedding in Venice in September 2014, this power pair have built a bulging property empire worth £40million.
It’s just as well they keep private jets on standby as they like to flit between the Berkshire countryside, a sprawling French chateau, a Manhattan penthouse and their villas in Italy.
Plus there are the adorable seven-year-old twins, an army of nannies, a vintage motorcycle collection, the wine cellar, the designer clothes and watches and a close knit circle of A-list friends to maintain – with royals including Prince Charles included on their Christmas card list.
Clearly the Clooneys prefer the finer things in life so it’s just as well George commands around £20million per movie.
The Money Monster star, 63, and internationally renowned human rights lawyer Amal, 46, tied the knot at what will always be remembered as one the most stylish weddings in showbiz history.
Of course the star-studded black tie affair was held in Venice, the most romantic city in the world.
But they spent the first few weeks of marital bliss holed up near Reading.
In fact they were renovating their new £20million mansion which is technically nestled on its own private island on the River Thames in Berkshire.
A very big house in the country
Their UK base, a nine-bedroom, eight-bathroom manor house near Sonning, has its own 16-seat cinema and spa complex, and separate quarters for the nanny, a tennis court and boathouse for their £10,000 rowing boat.
And the four-acre garden boasts a £90,000 playhouse complete with a zip wire, bathroom, fully functional kitchen – and even a life-sized toy giraffe (Amal’s favourite animal).
They even hired a celebrity interior decorator to kit out the upscale two-storey Wendy house, which is a replica of the Clooney’s home in California.
A home is a place where your family and friends are part of.
George Clooney
The interiors were designed by Michael S Smith, who was called in to make over the White House for Barack Obama when he became US President in 2010.
Needless to say, it has been a huge hit with their seven-year-old twins Ella and Alexander – who entered the world via a £9,600 maternity suite.
Amal chose to welcome their A-list offspring at the sumptuous Kensington Wing of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital which has been hailed as the ‘Rolls Royce of private maternity care.’
The Italian Job
George is famously generous with his hospitality – and he once surprised 14 of his closest friends with $1million each to thank them for their support over the years.
The grand gesture came in 2013 when he had just met Amal and earned record profits from the film Gravity, so he filled Tumi suitcases with cash and presented them to pals who had stood by him.
And he let famous friends Emily Blunt and John Krasinski use his property on the shores of Lake Como in Italy as their wedding venue in 2010.
The Clooneys also have not one but four houses there, which is certainly an effective way of keeping nosy neighbours at bay.
The Ocean’s 11 star snapped up the first one in his growing collection, Villa Oleandra, for £7million back in 2001, and the family spends so much time there that the kids already speak fluent Italian.
Now worth an estimated £75million, George bought the impressive 25-room 18th-century house, which has an outdoor theatre, from the Heinz family – and uses it to house his valuable collection of vintage motorcycles.
What happened at the Clooney wedding?
HEARTS across the planet broke when George Clooney tied the knot with stunning and smart Amal back in 2014.
But what happened on their big day? Here we reveal some of the things that unfolded.
- The Clooneys’ wedding took place in Venice, Italy, and followed three days of partying with guests.
- More than 100 guests were invited including John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Anna Wintour, Bono, Rende Gerber and Cindy Crawford.
- Messages from celebrity pals Dan Akroyd and Sandra Bullock were read aloud at the nuptials.
- The song ‘Why Shouldn’t I?’ by Cole Porter was selected for the couple’s first dance.
- Phones were banned from the ceremony but Amal and George treated guests to an iPod with a playlist of hand-selected songs
- Italian chef Riccardo De Pra prepared guests’ five-course meal, which included lobster, risotto, sea bass, and beef.
- Some of the guests were partying until 5AM
Presumably, the family like it because the mayor recently introduced a £370 fine for anyone coming within 100 metres of the estate.
Tourists were outraged but George was said to be delighted and recently turned down an offer of £80million to sell the place.
He is also in the enviable position of turning down £26million for just one day’s work for an airline commercial because it was associated with a ‘questionable’ country – although he did not specify which one.
But he has secured lucrative deals with Fiat cars and Nespresso coffee to film adverts in Lake Como, conveniently cutting out a commute.
Vive la France
The Clooneys kicked off 2021 by making some French estate agents very happy, splashing out £8million on a chateau in Provence.
As well as a huge 10,000 square foot, three-storey castle, the sprawling 425-acre Domaine du Canadel estate also boasts a vineyard, olive groves and a lake.
Oh and their nearest neighbour should they need to borrow a cup of sugar is Brad Pitt.
Hollywood hang out
When they are in Tinseltown the Clooneys’ house is the same one that George bought from Fleetwood Mac legend Stevie Nicks back in 2012.
Aptly for a film star, the 7354 square feet Colonial style mansion is in an area called Studio City and the six-bedroom house has an Alpine-style open fire.
Plus the cellar is also home to George’s impressive wine collection.
Since having a family, he has added a play cottage for the kids, two villas for live-in help and an outdoor pizza oven.
Of course, it has the other superstar essentials such as a swimming pool, fully stocked cocktail bar and a surround sound screening room – with reclining leather seats, its own popcorn machine and walls decorated with black and white photos of vintage Hollywood stars.
“A home is a place where your family and friends are part of,” Clooney said when he purchased the pad.
Life’s a beach
One of their favourite holiday destinations, the family are often spotted in Los Cabos, one of the best beach resorts in the world.
The holiday home George bought in 2009 is slap back next door to his best mate Rande Gerber and his supermodel wife Cindy Crawford.
Custom designed by one of Mexico‘s most eminent architects, Ricardo Legoretta, it was described by his son Victor as: “Elegant and almost like an art piece – but where you would still be comfortable walking around barefoot and in a swimsuit.”
There are oak furnishings and a frangipangi tree sprouting from the living room.
Well, who doesn’t need one of those?
The high life
They also followed Cindy and Rande to the Big Apple and treated themselves to a four-bedroom penthouse apartment, just one floor down in the same skyscraper.
Worth an eye-watering £30million they added the ultra-modern flat to their bulging property empire in 2016.
The glass high rise building in midtown Manhattan is home to 94 luxury apartments which all have floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Central Park and polished concrete floors.
Not to mention the 60-foot swimming pool, ballet barre, yoga studio, Pilates room, cocktail bar, library and a state-of-the-art gym.
There is a chef’s kitchen with bronze counters, but if you can’t be bothered getting it dirty, the ground floor is home to a Michelin-star restaurant.
Designer gear
Amal has also become a fashion icon since walking down the aisle.
She is often spotted at designer parties, including the opening of Giambattista Valli’s London store in 2018.
And the same year mother-of-two stole the crown for the ‘best dressed guest’ at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding in May in a canary yellow dress by designer Stella McCartney.
She teamed the £1,250 dress with Gianvito Rossi at £600, a £250 Stephen Jones hat and Lorraine Schwartz earrings worth £373,00 – making the whole ensemble add up to over £375,000.
In just one 14 days stint in 2016, Amal wore outfits that cost a combined £34,000.
The priciest day’s ensemble was worth £5,407 and included a £1,740 leather holdall from Roger Vivier.
With millions in the bank and a circle of pals that includes Hollywood and real royalty, you have to keep up appearances at all costs.