Proving she adds brute strength to her power union with Oscar winning director George Clooney, newlywed lawyer Amal Clooney has arrived in Athens to advise the Greek government on Britain’s possible restitution of the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

A media scrum was on hand on Monday to welcome the newly named Mrs Clooney, formerly Alamuddin, who married the Hollywood heartthrob in the wedding of the year in Venice in September.

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The 36-year-old has now changed her professional name to Amal Clooney, listed on the website of her London law firm Doughty Street Chambers, which crash when news of the name change hit the media.

Wearing dark trousers and a short white jacket, she was accompanied by her boss, Geoffrey Robertson QC, and archaeologist David Hill, who has spearheaded a campaign for the return of the marbles since 2011.

The marble sculptures, taken from the Parthenon by diplomat Lord Elgin in 1803 and currently housed in the British Museum, have been a bone of contention between the British and Greek governments for decades.

Ironically, the team are lodging at Athens’ sumptuous Grande Bretagne hotel, which has views of the Parthenon from its better rooms.

They will meet on Tuesday with Culture Minister Konstantinos Tasoulas and on Wednesday with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, followed by a visit to the Acropolis Museum.

Clooney, who married the Lebanese-born lawyer on September 27, backed the return of the Elgin Marbles in February while promoting his film Monuments Men, about a group that sought to preserve cultural artefacts during World War II.

Asked about their possible restitution, he told a Greek journalist: “Yes, it would be a good idea. You have right on your side.”

The marbles are the latest high-profile case for Amal Clooney, who has previously defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.