Sarah Palin, distant cousin of Princess Diana

London, Oct 9 (UNI) US Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a distant cousin of Princess Diana, according to genealogical researchers.

Ms Palin's 'relationship' with Diana, who remains an iconic figure for the British, would add to the legion of supporters she has won here, experts said.

Ms Palin and the late Princess were tenth cousins, found genealogy experts who also discovered that Mrs Palin, the governor of Alaska, was distantly related to US President Franklin Roosevelt, her ninth cousin once removed.

The Republican candidate and Diana descended from John Strong and his wife Abigail Ford, according to researchers at the online genealogy firm based in Provo, Utah.

They said John Strong was born around 1605 in England and emigrated to the United States, where he died in Massachusetts in 1699.

Mrs Palin and President Roosevelt share ancestor John Lothrop, who was born in England in 1584 and also emigrated to America, where he died in Massachusetts in 1653, Ancestry.com said.

Her genealogical connections are not the first to gain attention in the US presidential campaign.

Last year, Lynne Cheney said she found while tracing her family roots that her husband Vice President Dick Cheney was a distant cousin of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, said Daily Express.

Other researchers have discovered that Mr Obama is distant cousins with actor Brad Pitt.

''When you've got candidates who have deep roots in America, there's a good chance that they're going to have some famous cousins,'' said Megan Smolenyak, chief family historian of Ancestry.com, which did the research.

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