Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes set to divorce

Holmes’s attorney Jonathan Wolfe said yesterday that the couple are divorcing but called it a private matter for the family.

TMZ News has reported that Holmes filed divorce papers in New York on Thursday, citing “irreconcilable differences”, and that she is seeking sole custody of their daughter, Suri, aged six.

Cruise, 49, wed 33-year-old Holmes in 2006 in an Italian castle after publicly declaring his love on Oprah Winfrey’s television show, emphatically jumping on her couch.

Cruise, currently starring in Rock of Ages, was previously married to Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman, with whom he has two children.

“This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family,” Mr Wolfe said. “Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.”

“Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children,” Cruise’s representative, Amanda Lundberg, told the Associated Press. “Please allow them their privacy to work this out.”

The divorce brings to an end a relationship that began with very public declarations of affection.

Holmes once admitted she had a childhood crush on the Hollywood celebrity.

Cruise proposed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the couple were married by a Church of Scientology minister.

The couple, who have not been seen together since February, are estimated to be worth about $275m (£175m) in total.

Cruise has starred in blockbusters such as Top Gun, Jerry Maguire and the Mission Impossible series.

Holmes rose to fame as a leading actress on US television drama Dawson’s Creek.