It's not like getting anywhere near the power couple is a walk in the Italian park. It's just that there really are some obnoxious onlookers and unscrupulously persistent paparazzi who can get into your nerves at times.
Just last year, the vicinity of George Clooney's posh Italian Villas over Lake Como in the town of Laglio was declared a no-go zone amid the mounting anticipation for the wedding ceremony of the actor to Amal Alamuddin, a London barrister of Lebanese descent. It was rumored, back then, that the exchange of vows will take place in the villa of the "Up In The Air" and "The Monuments Men" star.
Roberto Pozzi, the mayor of the village of Laglio, said, "These prohibitions are necessary because there have been unpleasant episodes in the past, for example people going right up under the windows of the house and yelling the actor's name," as reported by Telegraph.
And now, the mayor has reportedly raised the stakes and imposed a steeper fine, to the tune of about $550 (500 euros), to anyone who would be caught loitering about the Hollywood A-lister's two estates, the Villa Oleandra and the Villa Margherita. The vehicle owners or boatmen who'd get their ride within 100-meter proximity to the compound will also not be spared, Telegraph reports.
The mayor justified the local ordinances and explained that their goal is not to subdue the rights of the people, but to clamp down on the "knots of people" who gather in the area and pose a threat on road traffic, according to a report by USA Today.
George Clooney, who has a reported net worth of $180 million as per Celebrity Net Worth, bought the magnificent Villa Oleandra in Laglio back in 2002 for €7.5 million before adding the second villa to his acquisition, notes Telegraph.
According to Villaatlakecomo.com, the first property is an eighteenth century villa previously owned by some Heinz family. The place was also made famous when the actor's movie "Ocean's Twelve", filmed there. Villa Oleandra also served as a venue of Clooney's many events and has played host to other big names such as Cindy Crawford, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Michael Douglas.
You can check out some photos of the Italian Villa on Lake Como here, courtesy of CBS News.
US Weekly notes that George and wife Amal are currently in New York where the lady barrister was asked to be a visiting professor by the Columbia University Law School. "It is an honor to be invited as a visiting professor at Columbia Law School alongside such a distinguished faculty and talented student pool," she said.
