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One was known as the King of Wales who battled Saxons and Vikings in the 9th century.

The other is the King of Hip Hop, who fought for acceptance as a white man in an industry dominated by black performers.

And though there are 12 centuries, 32 generations and four thousand miles between them, global rap star Eminem could, it seems, be a relative of Welsh King Rhodri Mawr.

Records on US family history site Geni show Eminem linked to leading US families before his lineage goes back to iconic figures in Welsh history like Hywel Dda and Rhodri Mawr.

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Wynford Jones, who worked on S4C show DNA Cymru tracing Welsh ancestry, said in 2016: “If the genealogy is correct then it looks as though he (Eminem) is a descendant of Rhodri Mawr.”

Rhodri Mawr brought the kingdoms of Gwynedd, Powys and Seisyllwg under his control, and fought the threats of the Saxons and Vikings.

He was the first ruler of Wales to be given the epithet ‘Mawr’ or ‘The Great’, reflecting both his territory and his military achievements.

(Image: Creative Commons)

Born in Missouri, Eminem, 43, was the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the US. The Stan and Lose Yourself singer was ranked 83rd by Rolling Stone in its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling him the King of Hip Hop.

His videos have been watched billions of times on YouTube and, despite not making as many headlines as he used to, he's still big enough to get Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran performing on his latest album. And in December he shot back into the headlines in the US with a freestyle rap lambasting Donald Trump.

While now he’s one of the world’s richest performers with estimates putting his wealth at over $200m the artist’s early life was marked by struggles with bullying, a troubled relationship with mother Deborah Rae Nelson and his absent father Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr.

He also struggled with drug abuse and reportedly attempted suicide.

There is no direct male line from Eminem (real name Marshall Bruce Mathers) to Rhodri. The line includes several generations of women.

(Image: Trinity Mirror)

(Image: MTV EMA)

Mr Jones said the rap star’s links to high profile families make it easier to trace his lineage.

He said: “Once you make a connection with a strong lineage then you can quite easily track back the generations because these are prominent people and they would have recorded their descent from older generations of important people as well.”

The records show Eminem being related to 16th century Welsh MP Richard Herbert, his son Richard Herbert Jnr and first Earl of Pembroke William Herbert.

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But Mr Jones added that being related on paper to a prominent figure from history is not proof you are a descendant. Both illegitimacy and errors in historical documents mean you can never be certain.

He added: “There’s a lot of illegitimacy in a lot of these families. So even though you are actually related on paper to somebody it may not mean that you are biologically related to them.”

Geneticist Dr Jim Wilson, of Edinburgh University, who also worked on DNA Cymru, said it would not be possible to prove a link through genes because the line is “deep and crosses from maternal to paternal various times”.

In an email Dr Wilson added: “Many people with deep genealogies probably link into such figures.”

DNA Cymru showed the existence of genetic clusters in Wales. These clusters may be the Welsh equivalent of Scotland’s clans, and can be traced back to ten powerful men likely to have lived less than 2,000 years ago.

Up to 18% of Welsh men today are direct descendants on the male line of these ten patriarchs.

Rhodri Mawr was the son of Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad, king of Gwynedd and Nest ferch Cadell of the royal house of Powys.

He inherited his father’s kingdom in 844, and when Nest’s brother Cyngen ap Cadell died, Powys passed to Rhodri’s control.

His marriage to Angharad, the sister of Gwgon, king of Seiswllwg, became very beneficial when Gwgon drowned. Another kingdom was handed to Rhodri.

He was regularly forced to defend his territory, both against the Anglo Saxons across the border and the Scandinavians.

He is thought to have been killed by the Anglo Saxons of Mercia in 878.

Rhodri’s descendant Hywel Dda also ruled much of Wales and his name is linked with the codification of traditional Welsh law.