Sarah Palin's husband 'files for divorce'

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Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin together with her husband Todd visit the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, August 2011Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

The Palins married in 1988

The husband of former US vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, has filed for divorce, according to US media.

Papers filed in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday identified the couple by initials - but birth and wedding dates match those of the Palins.

The paperwork, reportedly filed by Todd Palin, cited an "incompatibility of temperament" as the reason for divorce.

The Palins, both 55, married in 1988 and have five children together.

The documents mention "an incompatibility of temperament between the parties such that they find it impossible to live together as husband and wife".

They include the initials rather than full names of the two parties - SLP for Sarah Louise Palin and TMP for Todd Mitchell Palin - but identify the couple's marriage date and the birth date of their only child who is a minor, Trig Palin.

They are asking for joint custody of the child, according to the papers.

The paperwork was submitted on 6 September, eight days after the couple's 31st wedding anniversary.

Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska from 2006 until she resigned in 2009.

She shot to prominence when she became Republican Senator John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election.

Media caption,

A "cartoonish figure"? Nick Bryant explain Sarah Palin's rise to the top (almost)

She and Mr McCain lost the election to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Since then, she has - along with Mr Palin, a commercial fisherman and oil field worker - appeared in several reality TV shows; she also has a lucrative career as a public speaker and has published two best-selling books.

She championed the grassroots Republican Tea Party movement, and was also a vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

During her time as Alaska governor, Mr Palin was dubbed the "First Dude" by supporters.

He has mostly eschewed the media since Mrs Palin's failed vice-presidential bid.

In 2016, Mr Palin was severely injured in a snowmobile accident.

The couple's children have also made headlines.

Last year, eldest son Track Palin was sentenced to a year in custody after he refused to let a female friend leave his home in Wasilla, and took away her phone and hit her in the head.

In 2017, Track was accused of breaking into his parents' home and leaving his father bleeding from cuts to the head. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in a military veterans court.

Daughter Bristol Palin briefly starred in MTV's Teen Mom programme after giving birth to her son at the age of 17.