An Accident In India Brought Richard Branson Close To Wife In Her Final Hours

Photo: Instagram

NEW DELHI— An extraordinary twist of fate allowed Sir Richard Branson to spend precious final hours with his wife, Lady Joan Branson, before her unexpected death.

The 75-year-old Virgin founder had been touring India, including a stop at the Taj Mahal, when he suffered a fall during the Strive Challenge charity cycling event, injuring his shoulder.

He flew 4,000 miles back to London for treatment, unaware that the accident would place him in the same hospital and just down the corridor from his wife, who was recovering from a back injury.

Reflecting on the moment in a tribute titled ‘Remembering Joan,’ Sir Richard said, “Fate has a strange way of working. Joan was recovering in hospital, and in the way life sometimes surprises you, I found myself moved to a room just down the corridor from her. We laughed together about how typical it was to end up on the same floor, like love-struck teenagers delighted to find each other again.”

The couple shared a laughter-filled lunch that day, with Joan in good spirits, before she passed away peacefully less than 24 hours later at the age of 80. “Then suddenly, she was gone, quickly and painlessly. And thankfully, I was right by her side. It brings us all great comfort to know we were together,” Sir Richard said.

Sharing photographs from their life together, he added, “Joan was my everything, the shining star around which our family’s universe has always orbited. That light is not gone; it’s just taken on a new shape. It will guide us forward. And we will carry her with us, always.”