Friday, December 16, 2011
The truth about Romney's time in France as a 'poor missionary'.... he 'lived in a Mormon palace with chef and houseboy'
- GOP presidential candidate was missionary in France
- Claimed he learned life lessons and defecated in bucket
- But mission president's son says Romney lived in mansion with chandeliers and chefs
By MARK DUELL
Last updated at 10:10 PM on 15th December 2011
It was multimillionaire Mitt Romney’s attempt to portray himself as an ordinary guy to Americans, with tales of living a slumdog’s life in France.
But a different picture emerged today of the GOP presidential candidate’s life while serving as a Mormon missionary abroad in the 1960s.
Mr Romney reportedly spent most of 1968 at a Parisian ‘palace for rich people’, which was staffed by a Spanish chef and a houseboy.
Team: Mr Romney, left, stands with fellow Mormon missionaries in this photo in front of the police station in Limoges, central France, in 1968
‘It was a house built by and for rich people,’ Richard Anderson, 70, Kaysville, Utah, told the Daily Telegraph. ‘I would describe it as a palace.’
Mr Anderson is the son of the Mormon mission president when the former Massachusetts governor stayed during his missionary placement abroad.
The revelations come after last week Mr Romney recalled spending two and half years knocking on doors and defecating into a bucket.
Jean Caussé, 72, met Mr Romney in Bordeaux and told the Daily Telegraph he ‘never knew’ missionaries who ever did such a thing.
Toilet experience: Mitt Romney had claimed he defecated into a bucket while serving as a Mormon missionary in France in the 1960s
‘A number of the apartments I lived in when I was there didn’t have toilets,’ Mr Romney said in Hudson, New Hampshire, reported the New York Times.
'It was a house built by and for rich people. I would describe it as a palace'
Richard Anderson
‘We had instead the little pads on the ground. OK, you know how that works. There was a chain behind you. It was kind of a bucket affair.’
Mr Anderson claimed Mr Romney’s aides had told him not to speak out about their time together, reported the Daily Telegraph.
The 19th century neoclassical building they stayed in featured chandeliers, stained glass windows and impressive art across the walls.
Mormon faith: Mitt Romney, pictured on Monday at the Madison Lumber Mill in New Hampshire, spent two and half years in France as a missionary
Christian Euvrard, 72, the director of the Institute of Religion in Paris, which is run by Mormons, told the Daily Telegraph it was ‘very comfortable’.
'A number of the apartments I lived in when I was there didn’t have toilets. We had instead the little pads on the ground. OK, you know how that works. There was a chain behind you. It was kind of a bucket affair'
Mitt Romney
Mr Romney’s mission to France took him through Le Havre, Paris and Bordeaux, promoting a church which now has 14 million members globally.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints now has 36,000 members in France and many of them found the faith thanks to missionaries.
Missionary work is a central tenet of Mormonism that is required of members and 52,000 missionaries currently serve in 350 missions globally.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2074770/Mitt-Romney-lived-Mormon-palace-chef-houseboy-1960s-France-mission.html#ixzz1gi8dHysP
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