Richard Branson's secret to 36 years of marriage as he announces death of his wife

Richard Branson once spoke about the secret to his marriage with Joan Templeman, who recently died after they had been wed for around 36 years.

The entrepreneur, 75, announced today (25 November) that his 'wife and partner for 50 years has passed away'.

"She was the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for," Branson wrote, "She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world. Love you forever, Joan x."

Branson said he 'fell for Joan almost from the moment I saw her', with them tying the knot in 1989 on Necker Island, the Caribbean island which the businessman owns, and having three children together.

He actually bought the island for her and admitted he didn't actually have the money to afford it at first 'but try telling that to a fool in love'.

Richard Branson and Joan Templeman married in 1989 (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

Back in 2019 when he and Templeman had been married for 30 years, Branson spoke about what he thought it took to make their relationship successful.

He told Page Six that when he first met Joan she was in a relationship with someone else, but he managed to win her round and explained his philosophy on finding love, saying: "I think you have to work on it.

"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."

Branson reckoned that being consistent was the key, and he cooked up a way to persuade her to come on a trip with him when he 'pretended he wanted to buy an island' and the estate agent rolled out the red carpet, offering him two helicopter tickets so he could bring Joan.

While he was initially only pretending, the island was the one he'd end up buying and they'd end up getting married on.

Richard Branson announced that his wife sadly passed away (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

He also said that making regular romantic gestures was important, as he had recounted the story of a time when he was having to travel for business and left his wife at the airport.

However, as the aircraft was taxiing down the runway, he was struck with the thought that 'I’ve got to stop this plane and go back and see her'.

Able to persuade the pilots to stop the plane and let him off, he was able to disembark the flight and go see his wife again.

Branson said his wife had always been 'a very private person' who did not give interviews, except for a film about his ballooning habits.