George, Amal Clooney welcome birth of twins

‘We’re over the moon’

LOS ANGELES, June 7, (AFP): Never known to do things by halves, George and Amal Clooney, one of the most glamorous power couples in the world, on Tuesday announced they had become parents at last, to twins.

“This morning Amal and George welcomed Ella and Alexander Clooney into their lives,” said a publicist for the 56-year-old star of “Gravity” and “Ocean’s 11.”

“Ella, Alexander and Amal are all healthy, happy and doing fine,” added publicist Stan Rosenfield, joking that “George is sedated and should recover in a few days.”

Amal’s parents, who are Lebanese, told AFP they were elated by the news and that everything had gone smoothly.

“We are over the moon,” said Amal’s mother Baria, speaking from London where she was in hospital with her daughter. “It was a beautiful delivery. The babies are beautiful and are doing well.”

Amal’s father Ramzi Alamuddin, reached in Beirut, said he had spoken with his daughter and son-in-law after the twins’ birth and hoped to travel to London soon to meet them. “They are in great health, all is perfect. I am very happy for them,” he said, predicting the couple “will be great parents.”

Oscar-winner Clooney was once one of Hollywood’s hottest bachelors before falling for the stunning 39-year-old Lebanese-British human rights barrister. They married in 2014 in Venice, in a lavish wedding attended by A-listers and closely covered by media outlets from around the globe.

News of the twins’ birth set social media abuzz on Tuesday with many commenting on the classic names picked for the baby boy and girl.

“Amal Clooney gives birth to twins with beautiful, average names,” read one tweet.

“I usually eschew celebrity news, but George and Amal Clooney having twins (boy & girl) seems like good news for humanity on some tiny level,” another twitter user noted.

“Welcome to the world, Ella and Alexander Clooney,” said US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. “Congratulations, George and Amal, or as I’m now calling you, Ocean’s Four.”

Clooney

Moved

Amal was born in Lebanon before her family moved to Britain when she was three years old.

After her wedding to Clooney, she threw her legal clout and celebrity behind a series of high-profile causes including Britain’s possible restitution of the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

She has also defended the cause of young Yazidi women who were abused by fighters of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Past clients include former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

She defended Al-Jazeera reporter Mohamed Fahmy after he was jailed in Egypt and was part of the legal team for former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed following his toppling in 2012.

Actor, director and producer George was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993, before his role in hit television series “ER” propelled him to international stardom.

He first met Amal in Italy in 2013 through a mutual friend and admitted to chasing her for months before she agreed to a date.

“From the minute we met, we just sort of felt like we were going to be together,” he once told DeGeneres.

He said he popped the question six months after the pair started dating.

The silver-haired actor has won a slew of top awards including an Oscar for best supporting actor in “Syriana” in 2006 and a 2013 best picture award as producer for “Argo.”

He also garnered Golden Globes as best actor in the Coen Brothers’ “O’ Brother Where Art Thou” in 2001 and Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants” in 2012.

Another power couple, pop superstar Beyonce and rapper husband Jay Z are also expecting twins later this year.

The birth of Clooney’s twins sent media into a frenzy on Tuesday with paparazzi lined up outside a London hospital clamoring for the first pictures and celebrity websites outdoing each other for clicky headlines like “10 Reasons George Clooney Will Make a Great Dad.”

Yet for all the fuss that greeted babies Ella and Alexander Clooney, they may end up the warm-up act to this summer’s blockbuster.

Beyonce also is expected to give birth to twins any day now, turning motherhood into the biggest celebrity story of the year despite the striking contrast in styles of the two women who have become the focus of a baby-obsessed public.

Music superstar Beyonce, 35, has delighted in displaying her belly in Instagram photos and stage performances, whereas Amal Clooney, 39, made it clear during her pregnancy that she would like fans to focus more on her work than her baby bump.

It is a marked change from Beyonce’s first pregnancy, with now 5-year-old Blue Ivy, when the singer was so rarely photographed that it spawned unfounded conspiracy theories that the “Single Ladies” star had faked her condition.

This time, Beyonce announced she was expecting twins a year after her “Lemonade” album chronicled her response to widespread reports of infidelity by husband Jay Z.

“What better sign to show to the world that you and your husband are a unit than to say, ‘Hey I’m pregnant. We’re back on track again.’ And twins is even better,” said Berkeley Kaite, professor of English at McGill University in Montreal.

Clooney, however, a top-flight humanitarian lawyer based in London, shunned the limelight that comes from being the spouse of the dashing “Ocean’s Eleven” actor, who in the past had declared he did not want kids.

“Clooney having children is exciting to many people because he’s perceived as a guy who took a while to settle down, and with an amazing woman who is very interesting,” said JD Heyman, deputy editor of People magazine.

Aside from the usual fascination with the private lives of public figures, the attention given to the double sets of twins reflects conflicting attitudes to modern motherhood.

Celebrity pregnancies became big business after actress Demi Moore’s seven-month pregnant photo shoot for Vanity Fair in 1991.