Sir Richard Branson with his wife Joan, who has died aged 80 (Image: Getty Images)

Sir Richard Branson has announced the death of his wife, just three months before they were due to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their meeting. Joan Templeman was 80.

Joan was working in an antiques shop in Notting Hill when she and Sir Richard first met in 1976. The founder of the Virgin Group said that for him, it was "love at first sight."

Writing on the Virgin website in 2020, he said: "I often make up my mind about someone within 30 seconds of meeting them, and I fell for Joan almost from the moment I saw her. Joan was a down-to-earth Scottish lady, and I quickly realised she wouldn’t be impressed by my usual antics."

Sir Richard said he had to "persistently hang around the shop and buy countl

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