Amal Clooney Opens Up About Sacrifices Made in Marrying George Clooney

George and Amal Clooney arrive at the Albie Awards at the Natural History Museum in London (Getty)

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Thur, June 25, 2026 at 10:12 PM EDT

Amal Clooney discussed the significant sacrifice she had to make upon marrying George Clooney, her husband of 11 years. Speaking at the Cartier Women's Initiative event, the lawyer shared how her life was dramatically altered after meeting the celebrity in 2013, as she had to deal with her personal life being publicized on every front page. 

"I used to have my work life and my personal life, and they could look quite different, and I was able to keep them separate," she explained during a speech at the event. "Then I got married, and that changed quite a bit." 

She added: "Initially, I was aware of that one-dimensional perspective where I felt like I couldn't be seen wearing this dress or doing that because I would be in front of a judge on Monday."

Amal revealed that she sacrificed her ability to keep her work and personal life separate (Mondadori Portfolio via Getty)

Amal added that she sacrificed having a private personal life for loving her husband and her kids loudly and boldly.

"But it just doesn't matter as much as living your life, and ultimately, if you're good at what you do, that is going to shine through or not," she explained. "So I wouldn't allow that factor to stop me from doing things that were important for my family or my relationship." 

Amal and George share eight-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella, and spend much of their time at their French estate in Brignoles. Together, the pair have worked to keep their children out of the spotlight and away from the paparazzi. 

"I have a goal of trying to protect, I don't want pictures of my kids," George told GQ. "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."

Learn more about George and Amal's love story below...

Additionally, Amal and George enforce a rule at their home that guests must hand over their phones to avoid any pictures being snapped of their kids. 

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"Creating private moments and spaces is becoming increasingly difficult," the mother of two told Glamour. "But that's also why we entertain a lot at home. I now have a phone basket that I use to take everyone's phones away."