The cause of death of Sir Richard Branson’s late wife, Joan, has been revealed.
The Virgin Records founder announced the heartbreaking news of Lady Joan’s death in November, but didn’t give any further details.
A pre-inquest hearing, however, has revealed Joan died from a blood clot on Nov. 24, 2025, stemming from a fall-induced back injury she sustained two weeks earlier, according to the Mirror.
At the hearing, Richard and Joan’s daughter, Holly, said the family wasn’t looking to blame anyone for her mom’s death, per the outlet.
“I believe mum had great care,” she said. “The doctors saved her life three years ago, giving us all three more years together. We just want to help other families if there are any lessons to be learned.”
In Richard’s Instagram post sharing that Joan had died, he called her “the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for.”
“She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world,” he wrote, adding, “Love you forever, Joan x.”
Richard and Joan got married in 1989 and shared three children: Holly, 44, Sam, 41, and Clare, who tragically died four days after being born.
They were together for nearly 50 years before she died at 80 years old.
In February, he shared a Valentine’s Day tribute to his late wife, writing, “This Valentine’s Day would have been the 50th since Joan and I met, and our love story began. What an extraordinary half century we spent together, filled with love, laughter and joy, and blessed with our children Holly and Sam, and our wonderful grandkids. How lucky we were.”
Branson spoke to Page Six about his happy marriage to Joan back in May 2019 at the opening party for Virgin Hotels San Francisco.
“I think you have to work on it,” he told us about finding love. “I think if you just sit back and wait for it to come it’s not necessarily going to happen. I think you’ve got to be willing to subtly chase somebody if you’re really interested.”
“With my own wife, I was known as ‘Tagalong,’” adding, “I would end up literally chasing. Finally, hopefully, they’ll give in.”
