The powerful female celebrities who inspire us

March 07, 2017

AMAL CLOONEY

She may have married Hollywood's most eligible bachelor, but there's more to Amal Clooney than her other half. The top human rights barrister travels the world to showcase her causes – all the while turning heads with her flawless sense of style.

At 39, Amal's hugely successful career has already seen her serve as an adviser to Kofi Annan in his role as a UN special adviser for Syria, represent Greece over the return of the Parthenon marbles by Britain, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in his extradition proceedings, among many more.

The Lebanon-born lawyer is confident that she is putting her newfound celebrity status to good use, saying: "I think there is a certain responsibility that comes with that."

While in Berlin to promote George's film Hail, Caesar! in 2016, she made sure she stepped off the red carpet to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the world migration crisis, taking her handsome hubby along. The famous pair also met Syrian refugees personally at a refugee centre.

ANGELINA JOLIE

Actress-turned-director Angelina Jolie is among the world's most powerful women, according to business magazine Forbes. The Oscar winner combines her hugely successful and diverse career with motherhood – she has six children with former husband Brad; Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh and twins Knox and Vivienne.

She doesn't stop there; Angelina, 41, has become just as famous for her campaigning as her acting career. She has travelled the globe to highlight the plight of at-risk women and children and in 2012, was appointed a special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Two years later Britain made her an honorary Dame for her humanitarian efforts.

She couldn’t do it all without her family, though. Upon winning an honorary Oscar for her charity work, she told her children: "My family – your love and support make everything possible," adding, "Mad, you and your brothers and sisters are my happiness and there is no greater honour than being your mum."

In 2013, Angelina became an exemplary model of strength when she revealed she had undergone a preventative double mastectomy. Later, she made the decision to have both of her ovaries removed. Her choices have helped to raise awareness of screening and possible treatments for female cancers.

QUEEN RANIA

A surprising turn of events saw Rania proclaimed Queen of Jordan in 1999, following the unexpected elevation of her husband Abdullah II to King after the death of his father, King Hussein.

Rania quickly became known as a strong, progressive female voice in the Arab world and a powerful advocate for education, health and women's rights.

The former Apple marketing executive was one of the first royals to set up accounts on social media, which she uses to share inspiring messages and images with her 11 million plus followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

As well as a doting mother to her four children, Rania is the honorary chair of the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative and her NGO, the Jordan River Foundation – which she established in 1995 and currently chairs – works to rescue abused children and help families out of poverty.

It’s as though Rania's husband foresaw the good his wife would do. When declaring her Queen on state television he said that her non-royal origins made her better connected to "the hopes and outlooks of people" since she "truly believes in their causes".

CELINE DION

She's a powerhouse on stage – Celine is one of the best-loved female singers of all time, and among the highest-earning musicians in history. And the French-Canadian singer is every inch the same powerhouse behind the scenes.

Celine, 48, was a tower of strength to her late husband René Angélil throughout his long battle with cancer – during which she gave birth to the couple’s first son René-Charles and nine years later to twins Nelson and Eddy – until it sadly came to an end in January.

Speaking in a 2015 interview with USA Today about her husband's battle with cancer, the singer said: "When you see someone who is fighting so hard, it has a big impact on you. You have two choices. You look at your husband who's very sick and you can’t help, and it kills you. Or you look at your husband that’s sick and you say, 'I got you. I got it. I'm here. It's going to be just fine.'"

Just weeks after losing 73-year-old René, who, as well as being her beloved husband, had managed her career since her teenage years, Celine resumed her Las Vegas residency. This was undoubtedly what he would have wanted, and her way of reassuring him, in the words of her Titanic ballad, that “My heart will go on”.

THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE

While Prince William is the one who is second in line to the British throne, all eyes are on his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge. Beautiful, elegant, and consistently picture-perfect in a perfectly judged mix of designer and high street fashion, Kate has won herself a huge royal following in her own right.

The mother of a three-year-old future King, Prince George, and his sister Princess Charlotte, Kate makes time for plenty of public engagements. She now looks set to take on more, in support of the Queen, who turned 90 last year. Kate has taken on numerous roles, including Honorary Air Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets as well as Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Aside from her public duties, Kate, 34, champions many causes close to her heart. As patron of several charities, including Place2Be and Action on Addiction, one of her main focuses is to highlight the importance of mental health in young people – a mission that saw her take on the guest editing role at The Huffington Post UK for a day in Feb. 2016.

SHAKIRA

Colombian songstress Shakira is a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and, after her stint on the US version of The Voice, a coach to boot. And the multiple GRAMMY-winning singer is just as active off the stage as she is on, expending as much energy on helping children gain access to quality education in her home country and beyond.

At just 18 years old, she founded her charitable foundation Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet) – also the name of her third album. In 2003 she was made a Unicef goodwill ambassador and three years later, launched a foundation focused on combatting child poverty in Latin America, whose Spanish acronym is ALAS. Shakira received a nod from Barack Obama for her philanthropic work when he appointed her to a presidential commission on education for Hispanics in 2011.

She has given added significance to the most precious moments in her life, sharing them in the service of her charities. When Shakira and her partner, footballer Gerard Piqué, welcomed their two sons Milan and Sasha, they held virtual baby showers with a wish list including lifesaving gifts such as vaccines and mosquito nets.

“Let’s make the arrival of our new babies a blessing to us, our families and to many others as well,” said Shakira as she awaited the arrival of baby number two.

NATALIA VODIANOVA

Born into poverty in an industrial town 260 miles from Moscow, Natalia worked hard from age 11 to help support her single mother and autistic younger sister, Oksana. Fast-forward ten years, and the Russian beauty signed an eight-season, seven-figure contract with Calvin Klein that changed her life.

At 21, Natalia was the last girl that founder Calvin personally put under an exclusive contract before he retired. Describing her beauty, he says: "When I met her for the first time, she took my breath away. She is beyond superficial beauty. This is a beauty that is from the inside and comes out."

It's perhaps that same inner beauty that spurred Natalia on to found the Naked Heart Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that builds playgrounds across Russia for underprivileged and disabled children.

One of the most successful supermodels in the world, she is also a mother of four. Now aged 35, she has three children, Viktor, Neva and Lucas, with her former husband, British aristocrat Justin Portman, and a son, Maxim, with her current partner, heir to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), Antoine Arnault.

OPRAH WINFREY

Oprah is widely considered among the most powerful women in the world. With a reported net worth of $3billion, she was named one of 2016's richest people on the planet by Forbes. She is the richest African-American of the 20th century, and the richest self-made woman in America.

The long-reigning queen of daytime TV – she hosted her own talk show from 1986 to 2011, which saw her famously interview the likes of Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise and Lance Armstrong – is also an actress, philanthropist, publisher and producer, and owner of the cable TV network, OWN.

Aged 63, the media mogul has been involved in pretty much every angle of the industry, co-producing the Martin Luther King biopic Selma in 2014, as well as taking the role of civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper.

She has spoken of her “untraditional” relationship with her partner of 30 years, Stedman Graham. Speaking with Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal producer Shonda Rhimes, Oprah said: “What I realised is, I don’t want to be married. Because I could not have the life that I created for myself…”

Photo: © Getty Images

STELLA MCCARTNEY

The daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney remained true to her principles when she launched her eponymous fashion house in 2001. Like her, her company is vegetarian; her stores are powered by renewable energy, with wood floors made from sustainably managed forests. Fabrics are organic where possible and no animal products – no leather, fur or feathers – are used.

In 2010, Stella was appointed Team GB's Creative Director for the 2012 Olympics by Adidas. The uniforms she went on to design became the most successful Olympic range ever, and she is reprising her role for Rio 2016. In 2013 she was honoured for her services to fashion when she collected an OBE from the Queen.

A true pioneer, Stella became the first luxury brand to launch a post-double mastectomy bra as a tribute to her late mother, who died in 1998 following a three-year battle with breast cancer.

The designer – who is also a mother of four children under the age of 11 with husband Alasdhair Willis – has said of her career: "I'm trying to show that it is possible to have a solid business in luxury fashion that is led by a woman."

Photo: © Getty Images

JK ROWLING

JK Rowling is the world's first billionaire author, but acquiring her fortune was no easy feat. In her inspiring speech at a 2008 Harvard University graduation ceremony, the magical mind behind the Harry Potter series spoke of the time when she was a struggling single mother.

"I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life," said the British writer.

Little did she know back then, writing her novel by day in cafés with her baby daughter in a buggy beside her, that Harry Potter would go on to break records worldwide as both books and films. JK, whose real name is Joanne, has received an OBE for services to children's literature, and is the founder of Lumos, a charity working to transform the lives of disadvantaged children. She’s also a mother of three.

Photo: © Getty Images