Amal Clooney is in the same "stratosphere" as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Britain's Princess Diana and Catherine Middleton, according to Barbara Walters.
The British human rights lawyer topped the TV presenter's annual chart of high profile people making an impact throughout the year. And thanks to marrying Hollywood's biggest bachelor, actor George Clooney, Amal beat the likes of Taylor Swift and Scarlett Johansson to the top spot.
"How do I introduce her?" the host asked. "I guess the question is, 'What does it take to fascinate one of the most fascinating men in the world?' [She is] in that stratosphere that we reserve for the Jackie Os, Princess Di's and Kate Middletons; everything she does, says or wears is officially fascinating."
The 36-year-old married The Ides of March actor at a glamorous ceremony in Venice, Italy, back in September. Barbara believes it was the "wedding of the year" and saw Amal pull off what many believed to be the impossible: tying the eternal bachelor down.
"Everyone said that no one would get George Clooney to the altar. In fact, George Clooney - who had been married briefly in his 20s - said it himself, to me, in 1995," Barbara said before showing archival footage. "[But] Amal is a little different, like Clooney, she is passionately committed to human rights causes. Like Clooney, who has a father who was a journalist, she has a mother who is a journalist. And like Clooney, she is a star in her own world."
Other people to make the list included Oprah Winfrey, Chelsea Handler and Neil Patrick Harris. But for Barbara, the fact that Amal is such a "perfect match" for George is what makes her the most fascinating.
"Amazingly, Amal has been the subject of very little snark or envy, maybe because we, like George Clooney, find it impossible to resist perfection," she mused. "Or maybe because it is heartening to think that no matter how long it may take, a perfect someone is out there for everyone."
