London (AFP) — British entrepreneur Richard Branson paid tribute Wednesday to his wife Joan Templeman shortly after announcing her death, saying “life will never be the same without her.”

The founder of the Virgin Group had revealed Templeman’s death, aged 80, in an Instagram post late Tuesday, saying he was “heartbroken.”

He did not say what had caused her passing, but noted in a subsequent blog post that she had recently been recovering from a back injury in hospital in England.

Eulogising their decades-long relationship, Branson said they had enjoyed “fifty incredible years of memories.”

“Years filled with tears and laughter, kindness, and a love that shaped our family more than words could ever capture,” he added in the message, shared on his Virgin Group’s website.

“It was a rela

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