Sir Richard Branson has announced the death of his wife, Joan, at the age of 80.
“Heartbroken to share that Joan, my wife and partner for 50 years, has passed away,” Branson, 75, wrote on social media. “She was the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for. She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world. Love you forever Joan x.”
Joan Templeman was born in Glasgow to a father who worked as a ship’s carpenter, and grew up with six siblings. She and Branson met in 1976 and they married in 1989 on his private Necker Island in the Caribbean when their two children, Holly and Sam, were eight and four.
Their wedding on Necker Island in 1989
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Two weeks ago, Branson shared a picture on Instagram showing him kissing his wife’s head with the caption: “Everyone needs a Joan in their life.”
The Instagram post from two weeks ago
In 2015, he paid tribute to her in a blog post to mark her 70th birthday. “I fell in love with her from the first moment I saw her, while she worked in a bric-a-brac shop in Westbourne Grove, in London,” he wrote. “A blonde-haired, down to earth, Scottish beauty who didn’t suffer fools, Joan was unlike any other women I had ever met.
“To win her heart, I had to persistently hang around the shop and buy countless objects before we started courting. Joan you are the greatest woman of all. Happy birthday and thank you for choosing to come on this adventure with me.”
The couple in the 1980s and, below, three decades later
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In a blog post in 2020, Branson described her as his “constant rock”. He said he bought Necker Island three years after they met as a “grand gesture of affection” for her. “We were still in the early days of Virgin Records and I definitely did not have the cash to buy it — but try telling that to a fool in love!”
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Holly Branson wrote in 2018 about her “wonderful mum”, saying: “She was the one who took my younger brother and me to the playground and walked us to and from school every day. A stay-at-home mum who was (and still is) always there with a hug, inspiring words of wisdom, and a beautiful, welcoming smile. She is our anchor, the calm voice that acts as a complementary balance to our very energetic father.”