We’ve got a lot of royal photos and royal-adjacent photos this week, but I think this photoset may be my favorite of the week. George and Amal Clooney were two of the biggest names in attendance last night at a Buckingham Palace dinner honoring Prince Charles’ signature charity, The Prince’s Trust. Prince Charles hosts galas, awards and private dinners for The Prince’s Trust all the time, and The Prince’s Trust is one of the largest charitable foundations in the UK. One part of the trust is devoted to the arts, and giving scholarships, grants and loans to young British artists and actors of all sorts. It’s just the kind of thing which would interest George Clooney.
So why do I enjoy these photos so much? Because Prince Charles was absolutely delighted with George and Amal. He seemed to be utterly charmed by them, and I love the photos of Charles cracking up as George and Amal are fake-laughing. These photos are amazing. A note about Amal’s gown… it’s not really vintage, which is what I initially thought. It’s from 2007 (not vintage, just “old”) and it is from Jean-Louis Scherrer by Stephane Rolland. It’s beautiful? I think Amal’s style strength is in eveningwear and professional work-wear. She struggles when she looks for cocktail/premiere looks or casualwear.
Also in attendance at last night’s palace event: Luke Evans, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Hartnett and Benedict Cumberbatch, who we haven’t talked about in MONTHS. Bendy is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust. I think Luke and Chiwetel are as well.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Love the blue corduroy dress on the blonde lady!
This is exactly the kind of dress I would wear, and then feel like a farmer next to Amal’s Barbie Fantasy Boudoir Nightie.
This look would be fine on the red carpet, but it is a bit OTT for Buck House.
She’s ALWAYS OTT. It’s her standard. Always wanting to stand out, no matter the venue and riding reckless through discernment. The gown is beautiful but her stylist should have selected a gown (since Amal needs to wear a gown and be extra always) that draws less attention to her shoulders. She’s very slight but very broad in the shoulders. It accentuates her masculine body – if the dress were fitted – sorry she would look like even more masculine as she has no hips.
Woah folks, it’s clearly a black tie event. How is what Amal wearing OTT??
I love it. She wears it, not the other way round.
I love the homage to Michael Jackson’s sequined glove manifested in the gold sleeve. Amal always know how to take tacky to the next level.
Does she ever wear her hair in another style? It’s so tired and boring for a “style icon.” But then again Anna WIntour has officially signed onto Kim Kardashian’s fashion so there’s that…
I LOVE this look on her! Gorgeous.
She looks great! I’m enjoying this so much more than reading about unethical parents spending fortunes and spinning lies to get their undeserving kids into universities. When Amal’s wearing clothing that really suits her, she wears the hell out of it.
I need Josh Hartnett to have a bigger comeback. It looked like it was gonna happen around Penny Dreadful, but it didn’t seem to take off afterwards.
i never had a thing for him UNTIL penny dreadful. now he’s a top 5 for me. so hot and charming. i want something more to happen for him!
Yessssss. And his velvet jacket is the vest thing in this post.
love him . always and forever. sigh…
Josh hartnett! Wow what a massive blast from the past. Why was he there? What does he even do now?
He’s married to the lady in the blue dress who is a British actress, so I think he was actually there as her +1
Charles looked a bit flushed in the face.
he did right? Someone had a few to many sherry’s before the event!
Was it really warm or is he having a medical issue? He always looks a little ruddy to me but this is overly blotchy.
I’m pretty sure Charles is a little drunk. All the pictures from the evening show him having a great time while many of the guests look a little bemused.
It might be an alcohol flush or it might be rosacea or something else. He always seems a bit red any more.
Wasn’t his grandma a bit of an alcoholic? He always seems drunk. Look at his hands, yikes.
Milla, yes, the QM was quite known to start “tippling” well before lunch, and had 3-4 WITH lunch, with “tea”, and then there were the “pre-dinner drinks”. Today, she would be known as a “functional alcoholic”.
Charles’ swollen hands and ruddy face (not just this pic) make me wonder if he has hypertension. One symptom is water retention in hands and legs, and after a drink or two he’d definitely become blotchy.
I prefer her white dress without that half cape. The half cape kind of looks cheap. Sorry not sorry, I just love Amal even when she’s fake laughing lol.
I am an Amal fan too, which is apparently an UO around here, hahaha.
i would rather talk about her every day instead of any jenner, kardashian, haddid etc
MOAR Chiwetel!
I love her dress, looks great. Whoever did her nose is a fantastic surgeon. If you Google the before pics, she looks much better now. I have a crooked nose, it is very hard to correct. The doc did a very good job, but it will eventually go back towards the previous position. Mine did, but it’s way better than before i had surgery on it. You have to go far back to see it.
Apparently the left arm of the dress is gold- but there aren’t any pictures of her without hiding that arm behind her husband. I wonder if it changes the whole vibe of the dress.
ohh I see it now. you can tell in a few of the pics, but I don’t think I would have noticed it had you not pointed it out.
I bet it does, and not in a good way.
It doesn’t look good. Gaudy, tacky and overdone. Per usual Amal.
Whyyy is George so tan?
That hall looks incredible in candle light!
I agree that I think Amal looks best in formal wear and workwear. Her laughs look a little forced, but George seems to be enjoying himself, and Charles is definitely having a good time.
Well Amal has been working towards this for a long time (getting friendly with the royals). She finally succeeded in the way she wanted. I just see this as pathetic. I really dislike social climbers.
No one can tell me this is not a pay to play relationship between all of them.
+1000000000000000000
The Clooneys were at last year’s Prince’s Trust with the Brosnans.
This “friendship” with MM, it’s ALL pay for play.
Just as making Eugenie’s husband the brand ambassador. While l know he was in the “spirits” business, let’s face it, w/out the royal connection this NEVER would’ve happened.
These two don’t seem to realise people aren’t impressed by royal connections. It actually counts against them to be sucking up to privileged-by-birth people.
What people are you talking about? Amal works in the UK, and after his string of flops, I don’t think George works much anywhere. (People in the UK are still impressed by royal connections, especially since our politicians are all so utterly useless).
Tina, try surfing around any of the British showbiz news and blog sites. The commenters, mostly Brits, are not impressed when it comes to the Clooney’s royal friendships.
I don’t understand these social climber allegations. In the business world it’s called networking. What’s wrong with connecting with people of a different background?
Also, I love these photos because it shows that the tabloids made a big fuss about nothing in regards to the baby shower. The Royal Family enjoys being around celebrities. This did not start with Meghan’s arrival.
Before Harry name me one occasion where Meghan and the Clooneys were in the same room ? it’s cute to say they are connecting with people from different background but she was of a different background before becoming a royal right? i hope you are not this naive to not see it’s a friendship build on pay for play. oh and this is not attack on Meghan they all do it.
Agreed. Do you think that if Meghan had remained married to her first husband that Amal would have lent her a private plane. I think not. Meghan was not even a thought in Amal’s mind. But once she married into the royal family Amal saw her oppurnity I think it is pathetic that Amal used Meghan for her own ends. Truly can’t stand Amal and George and their elite social climbing ways. When Brad was “big” he was “friends” with him. That what George does he uses people. Amal is the same.
Once again, it’s called networking. Would anyone want to be friends with Kate and Meghan if not for the men they married? Did anyone fawn over the Obamas before Barack became president? If you want to move in certain circles, then you need to associate with people in those circles.
Rich and powerful people will want to connect with other rich and powerful people. It’s nothing personal, but that is how business works. That’s why wealthy people host endless amounts of galas and banquets so that the elite can all party together and call it fundraising.
i’m sure we all know it’s networking is just that not everyone is buying this friendship that they are selling like they knew each and him talking about the press to win brownie points. When Brad was beneficial he was good for his PR . now He and His wife find a new PR couple for their Image.
@Salty: Brad and George were never super close friends. The media spun it that they were BFFs and I think they enjoyed spending time together during media junkets/red carpets. But Brad was with Angelina at the time and adopting/having kids, he was a family man back then. George was still living the bachelor lifestyle. Now it’ s the opposite, Brad is more bachelor these days and George is married and has twins. I never really thought they were super close.
This isn’t networking. Networking tends to be aimed at a result that generates some sort of productive business activity in the short to longer term. Business people are rarely networking just to be seen with X, Y, and Z or just to be known as knowing X, Y, and Z.
The Klooneys just want to be seen as Very Important People. This is namedropping to the extreme. They’ve been namedropping in the worst way since the start, about her clients (her firm’s clients that she got invited to assist QCs on), about her degree, about her old judge for whom she did an externship. Hahaha. Namedroppers!
This isn’t the USA. Amal doesn’t work for a firm. And networking works differently in different industries. Amal, George, and the royals all work in different industries. What do they all have in common? Access to wealthy people. It makes complete sense, if your goal is, as Charles’s goal is, to maximise donations to your foundation.
Tina, but you really think all this showcasing of royal connections is just about the opportunity to make donations for the Klooneys? Please get up to speed about their showmance from first restaurant date photos and with-invited-paps safari trip to circus wedding. Prince Charles has always been cash savvy and open to relationships where he can attract donations. What are the Klooneys getting out of this? Networking it ain’t. It’s all about burnishing their image and namedropping for the Klooneys. That’s why they kept leaking about Harry and Meghan visiting them in Italy, etc. The thing is no one is impressed by royal connections/friendships these days.
In these photos of Amal “laughing”, she looks like Janice (aka Maggie Wheeler) of Friends fame
That dress is stunning.
Can we talk about Josh Hartnett?! 🙂
Yes!
I always hoped that towel would drop in Lucky Number Slevin, but it never did. LOL He’s cute.
Who is wife? I admit I haven’t kept tabs on him. Her outfit looks so weird? Meh-h. She’s got that arm candy so who cares, I guess. LOL
As for Amal’s dress, I’m not sold on it.
I don’t like this dress. Why are all these celebs wearing dresses with long trains lately? Ugly.
Neckline also ugly. It would have looked better with the hemline just shy of floor length.
Josh Hartnett looks great here. Why isn’t he enjoying a bigger career? Talented enough to be carrying movies as a leading man, IMO.
He is pretty successful for a kid from MN. Yes, I’m a Minnesotan. 🙂
Forget the small talk, just look at the paintings. That’s what I would do if I were there
Love Amal’s dress.
And can we talk about Chiwetel Ejiofor? 😍😍😍
And Benedict looked good. So did Rupert Evans.
Amal looks so elegant here! I love her style in many ways. Her street style, not all the time, but she looks divine here.
She’s tall and puts a lot of effort into her outfits, hair, and makeup, but I’m shocked at how harsh she’s looking in the face. Contrast to when they first started dating. Perhaps too much weight lost.
The Joan Crawford eyebrows don’t help.
I love that Charles (and Camilla too!) always seems to have a cocktail in hand at these events.
A little bit of gossip from PT and the Prince’s Trust Awards today…
The dinner at Buck House yesterday was hosted for all of the representatives and award nominees from the Prince’s Trust International family of charities – basically there is now a Prince’s Trust Group (led by the previous PT UK CEO) and the Trust is working with governments and corporate partners in a variety of locations to establish programmes to support young people into work, based on programmes run by PT UK.
Today at the Prince’s Trust Awards national final they announced the UK winners of the awards (look them up – very worthwhile to read to give you a bit of hope for people! the young winners are inspirational with what they’ve achieved and overcome).
They also announced the first Global Award, for young people who have overcome barriers and achieved success through the employability and personal development programmes that PTI has run. The two Global Award winners, Nilam and Ahmad, were amazing (as were all the young people standing up on that stage to be honest!). Nilam and Ahmad were guests at the Buck House reception, along with representatives of the PTI branches and key partners and funders.
Slight clarification as well, the Trust doesn’t have a specific set of scholarships or grants for artists and performers anymore. The Prince of Wales Charitable Fund does a lot of the grant giving now. The Prince’s Trust focuses on delivering employability and personal development programmes that help young people to live, learn, and earn. Our Enterprise programme does award start-up loans, and we do offer small development awards to young people in need (for things vital to getting them in to work, like appropriate footwear in construction!) but don’t actually give grants or scholarships.
Full disclosure – I work for The Prince’s Trust. But that does mean I am spot on with the info about what we do (that’s my full-time job after all). Never used to be a fan of Charles but he has won me over. And the young people from Prince’s Trust UK and International were amazing today – standing on the stage at the Palladium sharing their most vulnerable moments and how they moved forward, god I couldn’t do it.