Summary
- Italy holds significant importance to George and Amal Clooney, as it's where they met, got married, and now reside in one of their residences.
- George had an instant connection with Amal when they first met in Lake Como, and their relationship was even prophesied by George's agent.
- The locals of Lake Como treat the Clooneys like royalty, appreciating the value they have brought to the area and protecting their privacy.
Italy is a very important place for George Clooney and his wife of nine years, Amal Clooney. It's where a mutual friend introduced them over dinner. There was an instant connection between them that night. Despite being an eligible bachelor with no plans to marry again after divorcing Talia Balsam, George suddenly felt anything was possible.
After less than a year of dating, George popped the question. Italy is also a special place for the couple because it's where they tied the knot in 2014. So, Italy is an important place in their relationship for more than one reason. It's also where one of the couple's residences. Do they get treated like royalty in Lake Como? Here's the secret of their Italian lifestyle.
George And Amal Clooney Met And Married In Italy
In July 2013, George Clooney was at his home in Lake Como, Italy, when a mutual friend introduced him to Amal. Before the dinner, the mutual friend asked the actor if they could bring another guest, who happened to be the human rights lawyer. Many people find their future spouses through mutual friends, but George and Amal's relationship was also prophesied.
Before the mutual friend and Amal arrived for the dinner, George got a call from his agent, who predicted he'd one day marry his unexpected dinner guest (per People). Sure enough, he had an instant connection with Amal that night.
"It's the wildest thing. A mutual friend of ours said, 'I'm stopping by and can I bring my friend?' And I was like, 'Of course.' I got a call from my agent who called me and said, 'I met this woman who's coming to your house who you're gonna marry.' The funniest thing was my mom and dad were visiting, so my parents were there, and we just talked and we stayed up all night talking and then," George shared.
Before the night ended, the pair exchanged emails so that she could send him photos from the night. Soon, they began emailing each other frequently and began a romantic relationship. They also began traveling the world together, from London to Africa. Then, in September 2014, the pair wed in Italy, even though George never wanted to marry again. It was a stunning ceremony at the Aman Canal Grande resort in Venice.
So, it was only natural that the newlyweds settled in Italy, specifically Lake Como.
Are George And Amal Clooney Treated Like Royalty In Lake Como, Italy?
According to Vanity Fair, George Clooney was living in Lake Como for years before he met Amal and transformed the area. He bought his 18th-century pale-cream and green-shuttered Villa Oleandra from the Heinz family in 2002 for about $10 million. Back then, that was a large sum, but now villas can sell for nearly 10 times as much.
Before Clooney moved to Lake Como, it was a somewhat forgotten place. After he moved there, other Hollywood giants and other wealthy families started moving in too. In 2007, Vanity Fair wrote that Clooney was beloved by the locals. He'd recently joined a campaign to stop the construction of a large parking complex and floating bridge in Laglio near his home. He even convened a meeting of local activists at Villa Oleandra.
"I don't want my presence here to be a pain to the other citizens," George told the newspaper Corriere della Sera, "but if you ask me, these proposals are in every probability just to exploit the fact that I live here." George pledged that he'd sell the villa and move if the construction began. Eventually, the mayor scrapped the plans and told Us Weekly, "To Mr. Clooney, we gave the honorary citizenship. We all are proud of his choice to live here on Lake Como."
Clooney's neighbors began seeing him as un bravo ragazzo, a good guy. The actor speaks in broken Italian, plays basketball with the village children, and rides his bicycle throughout town. The locals understand the value he has added by putting Laglio on the map, and they protect him for it.
When tourists come looking for the Clooney home, locals point in the wrong direction. If the locals treat the actor like royalty, then they surely extended that honor to his wife.
How Do Geoge And Amal Clooney Live In Lake Como, Italy?
For the most part, the 18th-century villa afforded George and Amal Clooney much-needed privacy whenever they visited Lake Como, especially after they had their twins. George and Amal have the sweetest marriage. However, a photographer broke in and climbed the tall trees that close the family off from the world just to get snapshots of the newborns (per Hollywood Reporter). Clooney threatened to sue.
Before the twins came, after almost a year of being married, George and Amal were seen vacationing at Villa Oleandra (per People). That summer, the newlyweds hosted family and friends and ate and drank the best food and drink Lake Como could offer. They explored the area and had fun. When the twins were born, they transformed their villa into a family home where they could raise the babies.
"Citrus and pink and lime houses, sprinkled like confetti on the hills all around us, tremble in the half light," Hollywood Reporter reported. "A foghorn moans, and then there's nothing, only the lapping of the waves and the cries of the birds. Everything is silent, just as it must have been centuries ago when the Romans first discovered this greatest of Italian lakes and when the grandest of Italian grandees chose to find refuge here, as Clooney is doing now."
"Every single day of my life, I just feel lucky," Clooney admitted. "Lucky in my career. Lucky enough to have found the perfect partner. Sometimes in life it doesn't happen on your schedule, but you find the person that you were always supposed to be with. That's how I feel, and I know that's how Amal feels."
So, it would seem that George loves Lake Como just as much as he loves Amal, and Lake Como loves them back.
