The wife of one of the richest men in the world has died.
Joan Templeman was 80 years old.
Templeman’s husband, Sir Richard Branson, announced on Tuesday that his wife of nearly 50 years had died, writing that he was heartbroken.
“She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world,” he said on Instagram.
He did not provide details of when or how she died, Fox Business reported.
They met in 1976, with him saying it was “love at first sight” when he saw the “down-to-earth Scottish beauty who just happened to be making a cup of tea,” Branson said, according to the London Evening Standard.
She was born in Glasgow to a working-class family. She had been married to musician Ronnie Leahy, but the couple divorced in 1978, the Evening Standard reported.
He bought a remote island, Necker Island, in the British Virgin Islands, when Virgin Records was still in its infancy and he didn’t have the money to buy it. “But try telling that to a fool in love.”
Branson paid $180,000 for the island in tribute to his wife, People magazine reported. He still lives on the island.
That island would become the site of their marriage in 1989.
They would have three children together, Holly, Sam and Clare Sara, but Clare Sara died four days after her birth, TMZ reported. They also had several grandchildren.
Templeman celebrated her 80th birthday in July, with her husband writing on social media, happy birthday and thanking her for being next to him through all "the highs, the lows, and all those quiet, content, and peaceful moments in-between,” Fox Business reported.