Overview
- Branson announced her death on Nov. 25 in an Instagram post, calling Joan his best friend, rock and guiding light.
- In a follow-up on Nov. 26, he said she died quickly and painlessly in hospital with him at her side.
- He wrote that both were in the same English hospital—he for a shoulder injury from a bike fall, she for back problems—and in adjacent rooms.
- The couple married on Necker Island in 1989 after meeting in 1976 and had children Holly and Sam and five grandchildren; daughter Clare Sarah died four days after birth.
- Tributes have poured in from relatives, friends and public figures, including an emotional post from son Sam, and no further medical details have been disclosed.