{"id":290401,"date":"2025-11-29T22:07:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T22:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/290401\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T22:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T22:07:09","slug":"we-are-also-incredibly-touched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/290401\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We are also incredibly touched’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Branson has taken to Instagram to praise a memorial created for his late wife, Joan Templeman, inside a monastery in Bhutan.<\/p>\n

The serial entrepreneur and devoted family man announced in November that Ms Templeman had passed away peacefully \u201cquickly and painlessly\u201d at the age of 80.<\/p>\n

Sharing his grief online, he wrote: \u201cHeartbroken to share that Joan, my wife and partner for 50 years, has passed away.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for.<\/p>\n

\"JoanJoan Templeman and Richard Branson | INSTAGRAM<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world. Love you forever, Joan.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later told followers he had been \u201cright by her side\u201d when she died, describing a \u201ctwist of fate\u201d that meant the pair ended up together in hospital after he injured his shoulder in India and she was recovering from a back injury in England.<\/p>\n

\u201cFate has a strange way of working,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the way life sometimes surprises you, I found myself moved to a room just down the corridor from her.<\/p>\n

\"JoanJoan Templeman and Richard Branson | Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe laughed together about how typical it was of us to end up on the same floor, like love-struck teenagers delighted to find each other again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Branson said they enjoyed \u201ca lovely lunch\u201d and that Joan was in positive spirits: \u201cShe smiled at me, that radiant smile that lit up her whole face, the same smile I fell in love with the very first moment I saw her, half a century ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said she then passed \u201cquickly and painlessly\u201d, adding: \u201cThankfully, I was right by her side. It brings us all great comfort to know we were together.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Mr Branson posted a series of photos showing Joan\u2019s image framed and surrounded by candles and monks offering prayers at a Bhutanese monastery, a gesture especially meaningful due to his long-standing ties with Buddhist monks and repeated visits to Bhutan over the years.<\/p>\n

Mr Branson has often described his visits to the country\u2019s monasteries as \u201cremarkable\u201d and \u201cincredibly enlightening\u201d, crediting them for shaping his approach to mindfulness and meditation.<\/p>\n

He later introduced meditation-focused Virgin Australia flights to promote the practice.<\/p>\n

In his tribute post, he wrote: \u201cThank you so much to everyone who has been in touch and shown so much love for Joan and our family over the past few days. It means the world to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also incredibly touched to see what the King of Bhutan, the monks and the people of Bhutan have done for Joan in the main monastery.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called the display \u201cso beautiful and kind\u201d and added: \u201cI know Joan would hope this brings comfort to anyone reading this who has lost someone close to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrities and fans flooded the comments, showing their support.<\/p>\n

American humanitarian Michael Capponi wrote: \u201cThe most incredible souls praying for the other half of your soul that\u2019s journeying,\u201d while Alison Cork MBE added: \u201cWhat a beautiful gesture. A reminder that humanity is universal and has no borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

GB News presenter Lizzie Cundy commented: \u201cWhat a loving gesture. Thinking of you all so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JoanJoan Templeman and Richard Branson wed in 1989 | PA<\/p>\n

One fan of the couple wrote: \u201cA wonderful gesture to someone who clearly left her mark. Sending thoughts to you all xx.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cIt just shows the impact you and your family have had on the globe. May Joan rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third said: \u201cAmazing yet so sad. Keep strong. Your love for her will never fade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Branson and Ms Templeman met in 1976 while she was working at a shop in Westbourne Grove, London. <\/p>\n

In his blog Behind Every Man There\u2019s a Great Woman, he recalled falling in love instantly with the \u201cblonde-haired, down-to-earth Scottish beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later wrote: \u201cShe was beautiful. She was bright. She was witty. She was down to earth. She was fun. And she had eyes made of magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple married in 1989 on Necker Island, eleven years after meeting, when their children Holly and Sam were eight and four.<\/p>\n

Joan became a devoted mother and later a beloved grandmother to five grandchildren: Etta, Artie, Lola, Eva-Deia and Bluey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richard Branson has taken to Instagram to praise a memorial created for his late wife, Joan Templeman, inside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,830,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-290401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-celebrity","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}