Home Top

Heartbreaking scenes in California as 400 homes are wiped out and scores of farm animals killed by raging wildfires that have blitzed 115,000 acres and forced 4,000 people to run for their lives
Twitter backlash for Entourage star Adrian Grenier over his 9/11 tribute to Iraq's war dead - as users brand it 'classless' and a 'slap in the face' to terror victims
HIgh school cheerleaders' 9/11 tribute performance branded 'tasteless' and 'cringeworthy' for including audio from the first news reports after the attack
Stay away from the grave, Amanda Knox is told by Meredith Kercher's family after she said wanted to pray there
Egyptian security forces mistakenly kill up to twelve people including several Mexican tourists after targeting jihadists in west of the country
Cannabis smokers are far more likely to develop early stages of diabetes, research finds
Scott Walker blames Obama's 'absence of leadership' for recent attacks on cops and says the president must speak out against anti-police rhetoric
PICTURED: Smirking ex-Subway pitchman Jared Fogle scurrying away from the door wearing his ankle monitor after being door knocked while under house arrest for child sex crimes
Festival near MIT campus ends in violence after woman is shot in the leg and a fight breaks out - as police continue search for shooter who remains at large
Times Square painted lady, 23, says she no longer feels safe posing topless after being punched by woman who called her a 'nasty wh**e'
Bobby Brown says things would have been different for Bobbi Kristina if he had been with her days before she was found unconscious in bath
Police search for three suspects after two University of Utah football players are each SHOT in the torso at a house party
Bright lights of fashion and Hollywood turn out to watch a battle weary Novak Djokovic march to victory in US Open - beating Roger Federer to take his TENTH Grand Slam
What to eat to cut your risk of breast cancer: From sage to sesame seeds, a new book by a leading cancer surgeon is the definitive guide
Beauty tricks that the stars love: Celebrity make-up artist Gary Cockerill shows how to be confident when using cosmetics
'I am not a biological parent, but I am a parent': She may be single and have no children but Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall says she still considers herself a mother and finds term 'childless' offensive
Man, 44, jailed for minor traffic violations is left comatose after prison guards BLOCKED paramedics from taking him to hospital when he complained about abdominal pain and bleeding
Former CNN anchor Felicia Taylor arrested for drunk driving in the Hamptons after side-swiping another car
Miss Georgia is crowned the new Miss America and 1984 winner Vanessa finally receives apology over nude photo scandal that saw her relinquish her crown
'It was super twisted': Former high school student claims she had a secret sexual relationship with female assistant principal when she was 17 and it was covered up
'Rest in peace Big Mo': NBA Hall of Famer Moses Malone has died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 60 after he failed to show up to a Virginia golf tournament
Three brothers are shot dead on a Louisiana driveway after an argument over music before the gunman turned gun on himself
Texas officials under scrutiny for biker shootout case in Waco that saw suspects held for weeks on $1million bonds without sufficient evidence
'Go home!' After years of Eastern European migrants starting new lives in the UK now it's the turn of their own countries to complain about new arrivals

Justice Minister: Amal Clooney gets top cases thanks to George

By Sebastian Shakespeare for the Daily Mail

Published: 19:47 EST, 13 September 2015 | Updated: 02:06 EST, 14 September 2015

View
comments

Wearing a £925 red Dolce & Gabbana dress and huge sunglasses, Amal Clooney looked as though she was on her way to a premiere rather than a prison when she met her client, jailed former Maldives leader Mohamed Nasheed, on a working trip to the Maldives last week.

So it’s no wonder that the 37-year-old human rights barrister has raised eyebrows among the great and good of the law, including the Justice Minister, Edward Faulks QC.

‘I’m sure she gets such high-profile cases and everyone wants her because she’s married to George Clooney; and by employing her they’ll give publicity to their case,’ Lord Faulks tells me at a book launch in London.

Scroll down for video

Inspirational: Amal Clooney, pictured after spending four days pressing for the release of jailed former president of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed, is one of the world's top human rights lawyers

Sour grapes? Justice Minister Edward Faulks QC, pictured left with with his brother Sebastian Faulks, said he believes Amal's success lies in her marriage to George Clooney

‘I mean, look at Cherie Blair: being married to Tony Blair didn’t do her career any harm.’

The comments by the minister, whose brother is Birdsong author Sebastian Faulks, come just weeks after Clooney lost her high-profile press freedom case in Egypt, when her client, Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, was jailed for three years.

More from Sebastian Shakespeare for the Daily Mail...

‘I heard her speak after the court case defending the journalists who were convicted in Egypt and, if I’d have closed my eyes, I’d have never placed her because she has this new-age media trendy accent,’ Lord Faulks adds.

‘I can tell you, they weren’t like that when I was a barrister.’

Just days before the Fahmy verdict, Amal was spotted partying in Ibiza in a gold lame mini-dress with her Hollywood star husband on one arm and a £625 Jimmy Choo bag on the other.

Luckily, Amal clawed back some goodwill after George demanded the Canadian government do more for Fahmy during an appearance at the Toronto Film Festival last week.

Nor is Lord Faulks the only one to have noticed Amal, whose wedding was covered with ten pages in Hello! magazine, blossoming in front of the cameras.

‘There are plenty of clever lawyers out there — many with considerably more impressive human rights records than Amal Clooney,’ points out Jonathan Ames, editor of law website Legal Cheek.

‘But her intellectual and professional muscle — and even her base sex appeal — is nothing compared to one fact: she married a Hollywood heart-throb called George.’

Amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen helped re-unite Prince William and Kate Middleton after their split in 2007 and now his wife, Bella, has given birth to a playmate for Princess Charlotte.

The couple — who already have a son, Max, fourth months older than Prince George — have called their newborn daughter Scarlett.

‘It’s fantastic news,’ Sam tells me.

‘A boy and a girl — what more could you want? We chose the name because Scarlett is just a good, strong woman.’

Keep an eye out for Scarlett and Charlotte tearing up the town in 18 years’ time.

Ding dong! Pippa wows at the boxing

OCCASION: Boodles Boxing Ball at Grosvenor House Hotel.

GUESTS: Pippa Middleton, Holly Branson, Sky Sports presenter Natalie Pinkham, property developer Christian Candy and his wife Emily.

MENU: A Veuve Clicquot champagne reception before chowing down red wine-braised roast beef and wild mushroom fricassee prepared by chef Gordon Ramsay followed by Valrhona chocolate tart.

Starlets: The sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, Pippa Middleton, and Emily Candy were in attendance

Classy ladies: Noble sisters Alice and Violet Manners taught fellow party-goers a thing or two about how to get in a taxi with dignity

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: Joanne Salley may have had to resign from Harrow after her pupils found topless pictures of her, but the former art teacher, who won her boxing bout, is unusually coy about her height.

All she will reveal is: ‘I’m tall enough for the Alton Towers rides.’

ELEGANT EXIT: The Duke of Rutland’s daughter, Lady Alice Manners, kept a careful hand on her dress to prevent flashing her underwear as she got into a taxi alongside older sister Lady Violet and a friend.

No doubt, they took the party back to their Fulham pad, which they’ve nicknamed the ‘Pussy Palace’.

WHO’S BEEN TANGOED? The Duchess of Cambridge’s younger sister Pippa, who recently enjoyed an extended Caribbean holiday with her parents and brother James, looked luminous in a Matthew Williamson gown with a peek-a-boo cut-out that exposed her taut tummy and orange hue.