Postcard from... Rome

Coming after a shotgun wedding, the union of Françesco Saverio Lorenzin and Maria Carmela Messina has endured remarkable well. On 8 December 1926, at the age of 18, Mr Lorenzin, a junior army official, took a pregnant Ms Messina, 16, as his wife. The first baby arrived a few months after the wedding. Four more children followed, the youngest of whom, Maria Françesca, is now 60 years old.

Incredibly, her mother and father, now aged 104 and 106, are still together and this week recorded their 88th anniversary together in Rome, making their marriage the longest ever recorded in Italy.

The pair lived in Palermo, Sicily, for the first 15 years of their marriage before moving to the capital where they now live with their youngest daughter.

To celebrate so many years together the centenarians hired a cinema to show their five children, 15 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren a video of their life together, including pictures from their wedding in 1926.

One of the grandchildren, Sara, told Corriere Della Sera: “Theirs was a great love. They met each other in the street, they fell in love and they’ve remained together their whole lives. Have they had their crises? Who knows? But if they have, they’ve overcome them.”