Sir Richard Branson has announced the death of his beloved wife of 50 years, Lady Joan.
Announcing her death on social media, the Virgin boss wrote: ‘Sad to report that Joan, my wife and partner of 50 years, has passed away.
‘She was the most wonderful mother and grandmother our children and grandchildren could have ever wished for.
‘She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world. Love you always, Joan X’
Lady Joan, who has two children with Sir Richard, has long been credited as the billionaire’s ‘rock’ and ‘fountain of wisdom’.
In a post yesterday, the day of her death, the Virgin tycoon posted a photo showing him kissing his wife’s head and these words: ‘Everyone needs a Joan in their life.’
Lady Joan was believed to be in good health when she celebrated her 80th birthday this summer, with Sir Richard paying tribute to her on his social media.
‘Thank you for being with me through it all – the ups and downs, and all the quiet, content and peaceful moments in between. “These are the moments I cherish most with you, every year I love you more and more,” he wrote on Facebook in July.
The couple was looking forward to celebrating their 50th anniversary in a few months on February 7.
They met in 1976 at Virgin Records’ live-in recording studio The Manor, where the business magnate said he ‘fell in love’ with her at first sight.
Sir Richard Branson today announced the death of his beloved wife of 50 years, Joan
In a post yesterday, the day of her death, the Virgin tycoon posted a photo showing him kissing his wife’s head and saying: ‘Everyone needs a Joan in their life’
The couple on their wedding day on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands
He previously revealed how the ‘beautiful, funny, down-to-earth’ woman attracted him when he visited her in the studio in west London.
After discovering that she works nearby, he remembers how he had planned to woo her.
In a blog celebrating his 70th birthday in 2015, Sir Richard said: ‘I fell in love with her the first time I saw her while working in a bric-a-brac shop in Westbourne Grove in London.
‘A blonde, down-to-earth, Scottish beauty who suffered no fools, Joan was unlike any other woman I had ever met.
‘To win her heart, I had to constantly walk around the store and buy countless items before starting the courtship…’
Signing off the blog, he said, ‘As the saying goes, behind every man is a great woman.
‘Joan you are the greatest woman. Happy birthday and thank you for choosing to come on this adventure with me.
Sir Richard has shared this picture of Lady Joan on his social media account.
In a later blog in 2020, marking their wedding anniversary, he said: ‘Beyond the record titles, I’m very grateful to Joan… Joan has always been a steady source of wisdom and has played no small role in some of my better life decisions.’
The couple were married 11 years after first meeting on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands in 1989, when their two children, Holly and Sam, were aged eight and four.
Despite her husband’s fame, Lady Joan was from the beginning a very private person, keen to remain out of the public eye and rarely giving interviews.
She was described as ‘the most wonderful mother’ to her children as well as ‘the perfect grandmother’ to her three grandchildren, Aarti, Etta and Eva-Deia.
Born Joan Templeman in Glasgow, Scotland in 1948, she came from humble beginnings as her father worked as a ship carpenter to support her and her six siblings.
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