- Bride-to-be is Amal Alamuddin, a humanitarian lawyer who represents Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
- Amal, 36, has been flaunting a huge diamond engagement ring
- She has already met her parents-in-law-to be at a private screening of The Monuments Men at the White House
- Nina Clooney says: 'They share a sense of fun, a sense of humour and they are both very caring people'
By Sara Nathan
Published: 09:25 EST, 28 April 2014 | Updated: 10:21 EST, 28 April 2014
George Clooney's mom today confirmed her son's engagement to Amal Alamuddin, saying: 'You can say I'm extremely happy, Amal's a lovely girl.'
Nina Clooney has met British barrister Amal, 36, on various occasions and told MailOnline: 'I like her very much', agreeing the striking brunette has both 'brains and beauty'.
Speaking from her home in the tiny village of Augusta, Kentucky, Mrs Clooney said her son first introduced Miss Alamuddin to his parents about a year ago - and said the clan bonded over their mutual interest in international affairs.
Mrs Clooney, 74, and her veteran broadcaster husband Nick, 80, also accompanied the Oscar winning actor, 52, and his new fiancee to a private White House screening of The Monuments Men with President Obama in February.
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So in love: Actor George Clooney with Amal Almuddin, 36, on safari in Africa
Cosy: George Clooney stands next to British barrister Amal Alamuddin at the Willard Hotel's exclusive Round Robin and Scotch Bar in Washington D.C. after they both attended a private screening of his latest movie, Monuments Men, with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday, February 18. His friend and co-producer Grant Heslov is seen sitting down
Meet my friends: George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin have a late-night drink with, from left, Matt Damon, his wife Luciana (sitting down), actor Bill Murray, and producer Grant Heslov
It was that date, revealed exclusively by MailOnline, that showed the world just how serious Clooney was about Miss Alamuddin, a human rights lawyer of high standing who is currently representing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Miss Alamuddin is also an adviser to Kofi Anna, the special envoy to Syria, while Clooney and his father, a known activist, are known for their work trying to resolve the Darfur conflict .
And Mrs Clooney said: 'We weren't at all surprised when they told us they were engaged, and we couldn't be happier for them.
'On an intellectual level, they are equals. That is very important to him. Amal's world couldn't be more different from the Hollywood lifestyle.'
Asked if Amal is anything like the other women who have swarmed over her son in the past, Mrs Clooney said, 'Heavens, no! She's a lawyer, she is brilliant, she is a very bright woman and at the very top of her career.
'They also share a sense of fun, a sense of humour and they are both very caring people.'
Clooney is understood to have proposed recently after the couple enjoyed a series of exotic holidays around the world during a seven-month romance.
Today, Miss Alamudin's law firm congratulated her on her engagement.
A statement released to Reuters read: 'The barristers and staff of Doughty Street Chambers offer their best wishes and congratulations to Ms. Amal Alamuddin, a member of Chambers, and Mr. George Clooney on their engagement to be married.'
Barrister Geoffrey Robertson added, too, that Miss Alamuddin is a 'brilliant and passionate defender of human rights' who is respected by her colleagues. And Robin Jackson, chief executive of her law firm, told Reuters: 'She brings a bright light to everything she is involved in, and I am so delighted at her happy news.'
Clooney's relationship with Miss Alamuddin is a departure from the long list of actresses and models he has dated in the past.
Rumours of their engagement began to circulate after she was spotted several times in the last week sporting a 'huge ring'.
Entertainment Tonight reported that on Thursday, the lovers were spotted at celebrity restaurant Nobu in Malibu, California, with Clooney's friends Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber. At the dinner, Miss Alamuddin had a conspicuous ring on her left ring finger, according to an onlooker.
The same ring was seen by another diner at another LA restaurant, Craig's, on Wednesday, when the pair were understood to be celebrating their engagement.
A friend told People: 'George and Amal are trying to keep things very low-key but they also aren't really trying to hide this, it doesn't seem.
Thrilled: Nina and Nick Clooney are pictured at the February premiere of The Monuments Men in New York. Mrs Clooney said she was 'extremely happy' at her son's engagement
Big news? George Clooney's girlfriend Amal Alamuddin, pictured here in October, was reportedly seen by multiple people showing off a ring at Nobu in Malibu, California, on Thursday.
'I think it's like they want the people they love to know that this is real, that they plan on being together for ever.'
Clooney was first photographed with Miss Alamuddin last October in London.
And just hours after the small screening at the White House on Tuesday, February 18, Clooney and Miss Alamuddin were pictured standing intimately together at the Round Robin and Scotch Bar at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. in a group that included Clooney's pal and co-star Matt Damon and his wife Luciana, and fellow actor and co-star Bill Murray.
An onlooker at the bar revealed: 'They looked very much together, George had his arm around her and she appeared to be a girlfriend
In March, they went to Tanzania, where they were photographed on safari, and they also visited the Seychelles.
History repeating? While known as a diehard bachelor, George has been married before briefly to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993, pictured here in 1990
Miss Alamuddin was once voted the 'hottest barrister in London' by a law blog, but her life could not be more removed from the celebrity world which Clooney inhabits.
She comes from a prominent intellectual Lebanese family who fled war-torn Beirut when she was a child and settled in a large modern house in Buckinghamshire. Her mother, Baria, was a noted beauty when she was younger – a Liz Taylor of Lebanon, by all accounts.
Her father, Ramzi, is a retired professor of business studies at the American University of Beirut.
The family are believed to belong to the Druze religious sect, an offshoot of Islam. After leaving Oxford, where she gained a 2:1 in law, Miss Alamuddin studied at the New York University School of Law.
Now working out of London's Doughty Street Chambers, she specialises in international law, human rights, extradition and criminal law.
Asked about the engagement news yesterday, her parents' housekeeper beamed a large smile and said: 'I don't know.' But a neighbour said: 'I'm really happy for her – who wouldn't be happy with George Clooney as their husband?'
Yesterday, Clooney's spokesman Stan Rosenfield did not deny the engagement rumours but just said: 'I do not comment on his personal life.'
Clooney was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993. Since then he has said that although he is not completely closed off to the idea of another wedding, he is not the marrying type.
Last December he told Esquire: 'I haven't had aspirations in that way, ever. I was married in 1989. I wasn't very good at it.'
His previous girlfriends include British model Lisa Snowdon, former wrestler Stacy Keibler, cocktail waitress Sarah Larson, Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis and Baywatch star Krista Allen.
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