Why Tom Cruise may view his daughter Suri as a 'potential trouble source': Amid rumours the pair haven't spoken in 12 years, ALISON BOSHOFF reveals the very strange world of Scientology and why its rules could be blamed for extraordinary rift

His is one of the most recognisable smiles on the planet — not to mention that defined jawline and striking profile.

So when Tom Cruise's daughter, Suri, stepped out last weekend in New York on her 18th birthday, it was truly surprising to see just how much she looked like her famous father.

Yet while his daughter with actress Katie Holmes celebrated, her A-list father was 3,500 miles away, filming in London.

You might imagine most fathers would endeavour to mark such a landmark date in person with their daughter.

But the last time Cruise was pictured in Suri's company was nearly 12 years ago, in July 2012, when she was just six.

Tom Cruise's daughter Suri, pictured in New York on her 18th birthday, looks strikingly similar to her famous father

The last time Cruise was pictured in Suri's company was nearly 12 years ago, in July 2012, when she was just six as they visited Disney World Florida

It was a tumultuous time: he had just settled his divorce to Holmes and was enjoying a custody visit to Disney World Florida. Suri — dressed as the Little Mermaid — clutched her father's hand.

Many people — some of them Cruise's former friends — claim he hasn't seen his daughter in person since then.

Could this possibly be true?

The question of what sort of relationship Cruise has with Suri — he also has two older children, Bella and Connor, adopted during his marriage to Nicole Kidman — is a riddle wrapped in an enigma and there is no clear answer.

Calls and emails to Amanda Lundberg, his publicist, and to his lawyer, asking whether he has seen Suri, go unanswered.

It's all the more perplexing because Cruise was so effusive about the importance of spending time with his daughter. Just think back to the 22-page portfolio in Vanity Fair in 2006, which pictured Suri for the first time.

'I always said to myself that my children would be able to depend on me, and I would always be there for them and love them,' a proud Cruise told the magazine.

Now, though, that pride seems a world away — and the sweet bond between father and daughter looks to be ancient history.

Last summer a source close to the actor told this newspaper he kept in touch with his daughter via Zoom and phone calls, and denied they were estranged.

Yet others doubt this — and cite Scientology, the controversial religion followed by Cruise, as the possible cause of any schism.

When she was married to Cruise, Holmes received instruction in Scientology, and Suri was to have been raised a Scientologist.

However, after their split, she returned to her Roman Catholic faith and was said to be keen to get Suri away from Scientology.

Fascinatingly, there's some question over whether the divide between Cruise and Suri is down to Holmes being protective of her daughter — or Cruise cutting her off at the behest of his religion.

Indeed, Scientology is infamous for discouraging believers from maintaining relationships with those outside the religion and has been routinely blamed for estranging its devotees from non-believers, some of whom they dub 'Suppressive Persons'.

Former leading Scientologist Karen De La Carriere — once married to the religion's president — tells me she's sure Scientology is at the root of the rift.

Before her parents' divorce, Suri was pictured incessantly, almost always being held by her father. And then, as soon as the split was announced in 2012, that ended

There are questions over whether the divide between Cruise and Suri is down to Katie Holmes being protective of her daughter — or Cruise cutting her off at the behest of Scientology, the controversial religion he follows

She said: 'Katie was deemed a Suppressive Person and Suri, by extension, Potential Trouble Source. Tom cannot engage or connect with his own daughter. In Scientology, it is Scientology first, family priorities come low down in the order.'

Brendan Tighe, who worked in Cruise's security detail and was a Scientologist, told me this week: 'Basically when it comes to Scientology thinking, there is a disconnection policy. When it's applied rigorously, there is no room for emotion.

'So long as Suri sides with her mom, there will be no contact with her dad.'

Mike Rinder, once Scientology's number three, knew Cruise and his family first-hand for years. Since leaving the religion, he has spoken out against it, and recently published an autobiography A Billion Years.

Rinder tells me his own oldest children, who remain believers, will not speak to him because he has left the religion. He says he is sure this is the reason for the apparent breakdown between Cruise and Suri.

'Because Katie took the lead in getting the divorce, springing a 'surprise' on the most well-known Scientologist on Earth, she committed a 'Suppressive Act'. Thus, Tom could not be connected to her,' he says.

Would this not trouble Cruise? Rinder says not, adding: 'Scientologists believe everyone is a spiritual being who lives many lifetimes. The being that is your mother this lifetime could have been your daughter in a previous life — and this diminishes the importance of familial ties.'

Cruise might take issue with this, not least because it all comes from ex-Scientologists who bear animus towards his religion.

A Scientology spokesman did not respond to a request to discuss any specifics of what the situation might be between Suri and Cruise. However, the church has said in the past that it never 'orders' followers to disconnect from anyone, and the practice does not have anything to do with 'former members or people who are critical of the Church'.

Yet it is certain that the happy family future which Cruise pictured for himself, Suri and her older siblings, who remain Scientologists, has not transpired.

Indeed, some say a similar dynamic can be seen after Cruise's divorce from Nicole Kidman — who no longer follows Scientology, and has seen very little of their children, Bella, 31, and Conor, now 29, since then.

Before her parents' divorce, Suri was pictured incessantly, almost always being held by her father. And then, as soon as the split was announced in 2012, that ended. Holmes moved to New York and took pains to keep her child out of the public eye.

The issue of Suri's relationship with her father became explosively public in September 2013, when Cruise took legal action against two magazines which said he had 'abandoned' his daughter.

The lawsuit was settled out of court, and it was clear Cruise angrily resented the allegation. During a deposition, he admitted he had not seen the then six-year-old for 110 days over the previous summer, right after the divorce.

He said he and Suri instead kept in touch by phone, as he was busy with filming: 'I tell wonderful stories... I've gotten pretty good at communicating.'

He added that arrangements with Holmes were complicated.

He said: 'Listen, when there is a divorce... it's more complicated. Things change.

He added: 'Certainly what doesn't change is the love I have for my daughter, and the fact I didn't abandon her emotionally, physically, or otherwise.'

One can only hope he would say the same today.