GETTY Silvio Berlusconi mocked Emmanuel Macron's marriage to Brigitte Trogneux

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The gaffe-prone former Italian prime minister took a swipe at Mr Macron's marriage to Brigitte Trogneux, 64. In typically undiplomatic remarks, he suggested Mrs Trogneux was old enough to be the French president's mother. Mr Berlusconi said: "He has good work experience and a beautiful mum who has taken him by the arm ever since he was a boy."

The pair's relationship has been heavily scrutinised since Mr Macron, 39, entered the presidential race last year. He met Mrs Trogneux at school aged 15, when she was his drama teacher, and they started dating soon after. At the time, she was a 40-year-old mother of three.

GETTY Macron met Brigitte Trogneux, who is 24 years his senior, as a schoolboy

France's First Lady Brigitte Macron in pictures Tue, July 17, 2018 Brigitte Macron is a former high school teacher and the wife of the French politician Emmanuel Macron. See her most recent pictures. Play slideshow REUTERS•Getty 1 of 100 France's First Lady Brigitte Macron in pictures

Recalling the time they worked on a school play, she recently said: "Writing brought us together, it unleashed an incredible closeness. "We wrote and little by little I was totally charmed by his intelligence. He wasn't like the others. "Nobody will ever know at what moment our story became a love story. That belongs to us. That is our secret."

GETTY Trogneux was a mother of three at the time, while Macron was just 15

I am who I am, I have never had anything to hide Emmanuel Macron

During the presidential race, Emmanuel Macron denied claims that his marriage was a sham and that he is secretly gay. The centrist, who comprehensively beat Front National candidate Marine Le Pen in last month's election, said: "I am who I am. "I have never had anything to hide. I hear people saying that I have a secret life or something. "It's not nice for Brigitte. Because I share all my days and nights with her she asks me how I manage it."

GETTY Tiphaine Auziere has branded criticism of her mother 'abhorrent'