Sarah Palin is a tenth cousin of Princess Diana, according to Ancestry.com. Both women are descendants of John Strong and his wife Abigail Ford. Strong was born around 1605 in England and emigrated to the United States.

Mrs. Palin is also the ninth cousin once removed of President Franklin D Roosevelt. Their common ancestor is Reverend John Lothrop, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1634.

Ancestry.com’s chief family historian Megan Smolenyak said: “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.

“We’ve all got literally millions of cousins. The trick is finding that one little connection that results in something like Sarah Palin being related to FDR or Diana.”

This article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.