A former official in the Greek Ministry of Culture is quoted by Washington Post as stating that an unnamed Greek shipping tycoon with operations in both Athens and London is interested in paying for Amal Clooney and the expensive Doughty Streets Chambers to represent cash-strapped Greece in the legal bid for the return of the Parthenon Marbles. The official is quoted as stating that the unnamed shipping magnate wants to help out as a grand patriotic gesture.
“The arrangement came immediately after Mrs. Clooney and her boss Geoffrey Robertson visited Athens three months ago,” said the official, adding that the tycoon’s involvement was pivotal as the billing fees have gone straight to him since then.
Robertson, Clooney’s superior at the Doughty Street Chambers, confirmed that the fees of the legal team would be paid by “a group of philanthropists at no expense to the Greek people.”
The legal team is due to present a large 300-page report to the Greek government by March 30, the deadline for the U.K. to resopnd to UNESCO’s request for it to enter mediation on the future of the Parthenon sculptures.
