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| Ann Romney heads to Wales to play up rags-to-riches roots | Ann Romney heads to Wales to play up rags-to-riches roots |
| (9 months later) | |
| She will meet prime minister David Cameron on Thursday, attend the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday and, in January, she hopes to enter the White House as the first lady. This weekend, however, Ann Romney, will be the warmly welcomed guest in a far more humble home in the seaside resort of Porthcawl, on the south coast of Wales. | She will meet prime minister David Cameron on Thursday, attend the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday and, in January, she hopes to enter the White House as the first lady. This weekend, however, Ann Romney, will be the warmly welcomed guest in a far more humble home in the seaside resort of Porthcawl, on the south coast of Wales. |
| The wife of a man who made more than $200m (£128m) from slashing jobs and asset-stripping, she has raised five children and never had a career outside the home. She has been criticised for enjoying a lifestyle far removed from those of the ordinary American people whose votes her husband is seeking. | The wife of a man who made more than $200m (£128m) from slashing jobs and asset-stripping, she has raised five children and never had a career outside the home. She has been criticised for enjoying a lifestyle far removed from those of the ordinary American people whose votes her husband is seeking. |
| Gone are the days, however, when she was seen as superficial and too deferential to her husband, ridiculed by the American media as a 'Stepford wife'. Instead, she has been subtly but successfully recast into one of the strongest cards in the Republican bid for presidency. | Gone are the days, however, when she was seen as superficial and too deferential to her husband, ridiculed by the American media as a 'Stepford wife'. Instead, she has been subtly but successfully recast into one of the strongest cards in the Republican bid for presidency. |
| Some of her appeal – or so her husband's campaign team must hope – largely lies in her journey from the granddaughter of a coalminer and the second cousin of a Welsh rugby star to, potentially, the powerhouse of western democracy. Romney, it is being implied, is the acme of the American dream: an inspiration to the US electorate. | Some of her appeal – or so her husband's campaign team must hope – largely lies in her journey from the granddaughter of a coalminer and the second cousin of a Welsh rugby star to, potentially, the powerhouse of western democracy. Romney, it is being implied, is the acme of the American dream: an inspiration to the US electorate. |
| "I am very proud of my Welsh roots and very tied to them," the 63-year-old Romney has said. "They are an extremely important part of who I am. I am a coalminer's granddaughter. I feel I am just one foot away from where that mine was and how close we all are, all of us, to the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents who tried to make a better life for us." | "I am very proud of my Welsh roots and very tied to them," the 63-year-old Romney has said. "They are an extremely important part of who I am. I am a coalminer's granddaughter. I feel I am just one foot away from where that mine was and how close we all are, all of us, to the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents who tried to make a better life for us." |
| Ann Romney - nee Davies - was raised in Michigan and first met her husband-to-be in primary school. The couple began going out together when she was 16. A year later, she converted to his Mormon religion. The following year, her brothers followed suit. | Ann Romney - nee Davies - was raised in Michigan and first met her husband-to-be in primary school. The couple began going out together when she was 16. A year later, she converted to his Mormon religion. The following year, her brothers followed suit. |
| Almost four years to the day of their first date, the couple married, flying to Utah the day after the civil ceremony for a wedding ceremony inside the Salt Lake Temple. Her parents, as non-Mormons, could not attend the celebration, although her mother converted just before her death in 1993. | Almost four years to the day of their first date, the couple married, flying to Utah the day after the civil ceremony for a wedding ceremony inside the Salt Lake Temple. Her parents, as non-Mormons, could not attend the celebration, although her mother converted just before her death in 1993. |
| Romney's father never followed the rest of his family into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the family nevertheless baptised him a year after his death in 1992. | Romney's father never followed the rest of his family into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the family nevertheless baptised him a year after his death in 1992. |
| Seeking to play down her Mormon religion, Romney has instead flagged up her Welsh heritage in recent months, frequently drawing attention to the real-life, rags-to-riches story of her grandfather David Davies, a miner who emigrated from Nantyffyllon in Bridgend to America in the 1929 after losing a kidney in a colliery accident. | Seeking to play down her Mormon religion, Romney has instead flagged up her Welsh heritage in recent months, frequently drawing attention to the real-life, rags-to-riches story of her grandfather David Davies, a miner who emigrated from Nantyffyllon in Bridgend to America in the 1929 after losing a kidney in a colliery accident. |
| Arriving in the same year as the Wall Street Crash, Davies managed to raise enough money for his wife Annie, daughter and three sons – including the 15-year-old Edward Davies who would go on to become Romney's father – to join him in Michigan. | Arriving in the same year as the Wall Street Crash, Davies managed to raise enough money for his wife Annie, daughter and three sons – including the 15-year-old Edward Davies who would go on to become Romney's father – to join him in Michigan. |
| Mitt has hailed the struggles of his wife's family: "They couldn't afford to send four kids to college," he has said. "They decided to choose one, the smartest, and all work to send him to college. Thankfully for me, that was my wife's father." | Mitt has hailed the struggles of his wife's family: "They couldn't afford to send four kids to college," he has said. "They decided to choose one, the smartest, and all work to send him to college. Thankfully for me, that was my wife's father." |
| Romney is not afraid to use her Welsh roots to charm campaigners and journalists travelling on the campaign bus, serving home-baked Welsh cakes on long journeys. She has posted a recipe on her husband's website and, campaigning with Mitt on St David's Day in Georgia, wore a dress detailed with daffodils and publicly delighted in a 'care package' of the griddle cakes, sent to her by her daughter-in-law, also of Welsh descent. | Romney is not afraid to use her Welsh roots to charm campaigners and journalists travelling on the campaign bus, serving home-baked Welsh cakes on long journeys. She has posted a recipe on her husband's website and, campaigning with Mitt on St David's Day in Georgia, wore a dress detailed with daffodils and publicly delighted in a 'care package' of the griddle cakes, sent to her by her daughter-in-law, also of Welsh descent. |
| Far from the hectic campaign trail, Romney's relatives back in Wales dismiss suggestions that she is anything but genuine in her enthusiasm. In his clifftop house overlooking Rest Bay and the Royal Porthcawl golf club, Roddy Evans, Romney's 77-year-old second cousin, said she is "just a lovely Welsh girl." | Far from the hectic campaign trail, Romney's relatives back in Wales dismiss suggestions that she is anything but genuine in her enthusiasm. In his clifftop house overlooking Rest Bay and the Royal Porthcawl golf club, Roddy Evans, Romney's 77-year-old second cousin, said she is "just a lovely Welsh girl." |
| The families have shared a close friendship over many decades, he said. The Romneys make frequent visits to their relatives in Wales, on one occasion taking their five sons and Romney's brothers down a mine to see for themselves the working conditions the family had endured. | The families have shared a close friendship over many decades, he said. The Romneys make frequent visits to their relatives in Wales, on one occasion taking their five sons and Romney's brothers down a mine to see for themselves the working conditions the family had endured. |
| "You couldn't meet a nicer family," said Evans. "Mitt and Ann are incredibly warm and loving. It is a hugely romantic story that this little Welsh family in despair get up and go to America. | "You couldn't meet a nicer family," said Evans. "Mitt and Ann are incredibly warm and loving. It is a hugely romantic story that this little Welsh family in despair get up and go to America. |
| "Ann's father was always extremely conscious of his Welsh connections," he added. "I think it was important to him because it must have been such a big thing to him when he emigrated at such a young age. It would be an extraordinary event for Nantyffyllon if that happened [Mitt's election]. It tickled me pink just to think about it. | "Ann's father was always extremely conscious of his Welsh connections," he added. "I think it was important to him because it must have been such a big thing to him when he emigrated at such a young age. It would be an extraordinary event for Nantyffyllon if that happened [Mitt's election]. It tickled me pink just to think about it. |
| "I can remember we were down in Florida and Ann and Mitt discovered we were there and they got on a plane and flew down for lunch," he added. | "I can remember we were down in Florida and Ann and Mitt discovered we were there and they got on a plane and flew down for lunch," he added. |
| Romney's life has not been uniformly gilded, however. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998 and with cancer in 2008, she has fought off both illnesses, crediting her symptom-free life from MS on conventional medicine and alternative treatments: a prize-winning equestrian, she says horse riding "saved my life". | Romney's life has not been uniformly gilded, however. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998 and with cancer in 2008, she has fought off both illnesses, crediting her symptom-free life from MS on conventional medicine and alternative treatments: a prize-winning equestrian, she says horse riding "saved my life". |
| "I was losing most of the function of my right side and I decided I needed to go back and do what I loved before I couldn't do it anymore," she has said. "Riding exhilarated me; it gave me a joy and a purpose. When I was so fatigued that I couldn't move, the excitement of going to the barn and getting my foot in the stirrup would make me crawl out of bed." | "I was losing most of the function of my right side and I decided I needed to go back and do what I loved before I couldn't do it anymore," she has said. "Riding exhilarated me; it gave me a joy and a purpose. When I was so fatigued that I couldn't move, the excitement of going to the barn and getting my foot in the stirrup would make me crawl out of bed." |
| • This article was amended on 25 July 2012. The original said Ann Romney hoped to enter the White House as first lady in November. The presidential election is in November, but the inauguration takes place in January. | • This article was amended on 25 July 2012. The original said Ann Romney hoped to enter the White House as first lady in November. The presidential election is in November, but the inauguration takes place in January. |
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