Sir Richard Branson has honoured his late wife Joan by having her portrait painted on Virgin Atlantic’s newest aircraft, which has been named Viva Forever after her favourite Spice Girls song.
Lady Joan Sarah Drummond Branson died aged 80 on November 24, 2025, in hospital after complications caused by a back injury suffered several weeks earlier.
Revealing the tribute on Instagram, Sir Richard said: “So touching to see Virgin Atlantic’s new plane paying tribute to my wonderful wife, Joan.”
The design features a number of personal details, including the Branson family tartan, a heart-shaped necklace and the rings Lady Branson wore every day.
Sir Richard said Joan had been part of the Virgin Atlantic story “from the very beginning”, including joining the airline’s inaugural flight in 1984. He also credited her with suggesting that passengers donate loose change on board to charity, an idea he said was later followed by airlines around the world.
“She was always there,” he said.
The airline has previously named aircraft after important women in the Branson family. In 2021, an Airbus A350 was named Fearless Lady in honour of Sir Richard’s mother, Eve Branson.
For Virgin Atlantic’s 40th anniversary in 2024, the airline launched an Airbus A330neo named Ruby Rebel, featuring a figure inspired by Sir Richard’s daughter Holly. The figure wears a bracelet bearing the initials J, S and H for Joan, Sam and Holly.
Sir Richard was in the same hospital as his wife when she died, having injured his shoulder in a cycling accident in India. He later said that he had shared lunch with Joan on the day of her death and that she had died “quickly and painlessly”.
Announcing her death, Sir Richard described Joan, his wife and partner of 50 years, as “my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world”.
The couple first met in 1976 at The Manor, a former recording studio in Oxfordshire. Lady Branson, who was born in Glasgow, was working in an antiques shop in Notting Hill at the time.
They had three children, Holly, Sam and Clare Sarah. Clare Sarah died shortly after birth in 1979.
Holly later paid tribute to her mother, describing her as “one in a billion, brilliant and kind”. The family held a beachfront gathering for friends and relatives at Sir Richard’s private estate on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
