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Other allowances could mean a couple who are married or in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3m.

A proposed civil partnership bill was put before parliament, offering some official recognition to same-sex couples, but not the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.

We almost felt like celebrities - my BBC colleagues and newspaper reporters interviewed us while photographers asked us to pose alongside the 99 other couples here, tying the knot, renewing their vows or forming a civil partnership.

One hundred couples have tied the knot, formed a civil partnership or renewed their vows at one of England's most popular wedding venues - all in one day.

Prior to the new law, prisoners could make a formal application for marriage or a civil partnership and could only be refused by a prison governor on the grounds of security concerns.