Sir Richard Branson is grieving the loss of his wife and partner of five decades, Joan Templeman.
On Tuesday, Nov. 25, Branson shared on social media that Templeman had died at the age of 80.
“Heartbroken to share that Joan, my wife and partner for 50 years, has passed away,” he wrote on Instagram. “She was the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for.”
He continued, “She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world.”
Just two days before his announcement, the entrepreneur posted a throwback photo of the couple with the simple caption, “Love this photo of Joan.”
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Branson and Templeman married in 1989. They had three children together: Holly, 44, Sam, 40, and their daughter Clare Sarah, who tragically died at 4 days old after being born three months premature.
Looking back on their first meeting in a February 2020 blog post on Virgin.com, Branson recalled how quickly he was drawn to her. “I often make up my mind about someone within 30 seconds of meeting them, and I fell for Joan almost from the moment I saw her,” he wrote. “Joan was a down-to-earth Scottish lady and I quickly realised she wouldn’t be impressed by my usual antics.”
Branson first met Templeman while she was working in an antique shop in London, during the early days of his business career.
He has long credited her with inspiring one of the biggest purchases of his life: Necker Island, his private Caribbean retreat.
“Two years after we had first met, I wanted to show Joan a grand gesture of affection,” he wrote. “Before we knew it, Joan and I were high in the sky, looking down over our future home. It was the second time I experienced love at first sight.”
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Eleven years after buying the island, the couple chose to marry there. Their children later followed suit: Holly wed on Necker Island in December 2011, and Sam married there in March 2013.
Throughout their life together, Templeman preferred to remain out of the public eye.
“From the beginning, Joan was a very private person, and the over four decades we have been together she has remained so,” Branson reflected in a 2015 blog post. “She has always been keen to avoid the public eye.”
