Who Was Richard Branson's Wife? All About the Late Joan Templeman and Their 50Year Love Story Emma Kershaw, Jordana ComiterNovember 26, 2025 at 1:59 AM 0 Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Richard Branson and his wife, Joan Templeman, attend a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II on Dec. 2, 2014, in London. Businessman Richard Branson married his wife, Joan Templeman, in 1989 The couple welcomed three children together On Nov.
- - Who Was Richard Branson's Wife? All About the Late Joan Templeman and Their 50-Year Love Story
Emma Kershaw, Jordana ComiterNovember 26, 2025 at 1:59 AM
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Richard Branson and his wife, Joan Templeman, attend a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II on Dec. 2, 2014, in London. -
Businessman Richard Branson married his wife, Joan Templeman, in 1989
The couple welcomed three children together
On Nov. 25, the Virgin Group founder announced on social media that Templeman had died
Virgin tycoon Richard Branson and his late wife, Joan Templeman, were together for nearly 50 years before her death at 80 years old.
The businessman met Templeman in 1976 and later reflected on the encounter in a 2020 blog post on Virgin.com, writing, "I fell for Joan almost from the moment I saw her."
"Joan was a down-to-earth Scottish lady and I quickly realized she wouldn't be impressed by my usual antics," he continued in the blog post, which honored the 44 years since they first met.
Branson and Templeman married in 1989 and went on to welcome three children together: Holly, Sam, and the late Clare Sarah, who died at 4-days-old after being born three months prematurely. The pair enjoyed a steady home life together for years, up until he announced her death on Nov. 25.
"Heartbroken to share that Joan, my wife and partner for 50 years, has passed away," Branson wrote on Instagram. "She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world."
Here's everything to know about Richard Branson's late wife, Joan Templeman.
Templeman worked near Branson's recording studio
PA Images/Getty
Richard Branson, Joan Templeman, and their kids Holly and Sam, after their wedding on the Caribbean island of Necker.
The entrepreneur first met Templeman near The Manor, his former recording studio at Virgin Records.
"She worked in an antiques shop called Dodo in Notting Hill, close to our Virgin office at Vernon Yard," he said in his blog post. "One day, I hovered uncertainly outside the shop, then built up the courage to walk in. The shop sold old signs and advertisements, which I pretended to the shop owner, Liz, that I was fascinated by."
Branson continued, "Over the next few weeks, my visits to Joan amassed me an impressive collection of old hand painted tin signs, which advertised anything from Hovis bread to Woodbine cigarettes."
Branson bought Necker Island as a grand gesture for Templeman
Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty
Richard Branson and Joan Templeman, circa 1985.
Just two years after they had first met, the business tycoon put an offer in for Necker Island as a tribute to Templeman.
"Upon hearing about a beautiful island in the British Virgin Islands up for sale, I called the people selling it to enquire. 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!" he wrote in his blog post.
The realtor offered Branson a trip to see the island, and seeing it was the "second time I experienced love at first sight," he said.
Although his initial offer got rejected, Branson purchased the island for $180,000, and he still lives there currently.
Their children both got married on Necker Island
Jon Furniss/WireImage
Richard Branson, Sam Branson, Joan Branson and Holly Branson.
Eleven years after Branson purchased the island, he and Templeman wed on a beach there. Following in their parents' footsteps, both Holly and Sam married their respective spouses there as well.
Holly and Freddie Andrews married in a sunset ceremony that took place in December 2011, while Sam wed Isabella Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe in March 2013.
Branson stopped a flight so he could see his wife
Richard Branson Instagram
Richard Branson and Joan Templeman.
In a romantic gesture that rivals every single romantic-comedy, Branson once halted a flight when he realized he didn't want to leave his wife behind.
"[We were] in Majorca [a few years ago] and I had to go on some sort of business thing and I left Joan behind in the airport," he told Page Six during May 2019 interview. "As the plane was taxiing down the runway I suddenly thought, 'I've got to stop this plane and go back and see her,' so I jumped up, I went to the front of the plane and said 'I'm sorry, I've got to get out off the plane,' and they did stop the plane. They did let me off."
"I think she was pleasantly shocked," he added, recalling that his fellow passengers applauded the grand gesture. "Yeah, it was good."
She liked to stay out of the spotlight
Richard Branson Instagram
Richard Branson.
Branson previously said that his wife didn't want to be in the public eye and avoided it as much as possible.
"From the beginning Joan was a very private person, and the over four decades we have been together she has remained so," he wrote in a 2016 blog post. "She has always been keen to avoid the public eye, to the point that she has never given an interview, however, that just changed when she did her first ever interview for an upcoming film about my ballooning adventures."
She was nervous about Branson's voyage into space
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Richard Branson and Joan Templeman attend the ceremony honoring Sir Richard Branson with star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 16, 2018, in Hollywood, Calif.
On July 11, 2021, Branson headed to space on a Virgin Galactic flight, a journey that had been in development for 17 years.
In an interview with Reuters from Spaceport America prior to his voyage, Branson admitted that his wife had reservations about her husband's visit to outer space.
"My wife is the sort of person who would be terrified on a Virgin Atlantic aeroplane. She's the last person who would want to do something like this," he said.
Branson announced her death in November 2025
Richard Branson Instagram
Joan Templeman.
On Nov. 25, Branson announced on Instagram that he was "heartbroken" to share that Templeman had "passed away."
"She was the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for," the businessman wrote of his wife. "Love you forever, Joan x."
Just one day earlier, Branson shared a throwback photo of the couple, captioned, "Love this photo of Joan."
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: November 25, 2025 at 10:45PM on Source: MARIO MAG
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