Overview
- Branson confirmed the news on Instagram, calling Joan his best friend, rock, guiding light and world.
- In a later message, he said they were in the same hospital in adjacent rooms and that he was by her bedside when she passed.
- The couple met in 1976 and married on Necker Island in 1989; they had three children, with daughter Clare Sarah dying shortly after birth.
- Branson had posted affectionate, nostalgic photos of Joan in the days leading up to the announcement.
- Public figures and fans sent condolences, and no cause of death has been disclosed.