In a poignant turn of events, Sir Richard Branson was able to spend precious final moments with his wife before her untimely passing, the Daily Mail reports.

The 75-year-old Virgin Group founder was in India for the Strive Challenge charity event when he was involved in a biking accident. This incident led him to fly back to London for medical attention.

By a stroke of fortune, Sir Richard’s return meant he was present at Lady Joan Branson’s side during her last hours, as she passed away peacefully on Tuesday.

Remarkably, they found themselves in adjacent rooms on the same hospital floor just one day prior.

Reflecting on the experience, Sir Richard described it as ‘fate,’ sharing that they enjoyed a joyful lunch that reminded them of being ‘love-struck teenagers.’ Sadly, Lady Joan, aged 80, passed away just a day later.

Her passing was confirmed by the family yesterday.

A source close to the couple said today that Sir Richard is heartbroken but grateful for his unexpected and sudden return to the UK because of his shoulder injury.

The insider called it a ‘lucky coincidence’ in heartbreaking circumstances because it allowed him the chance to be with his beloved wife of 50 years before she died. 

The Daily Mail understands that her death was not expected.

Sir Richard kisses his wife Lady Joan in a photo he shared to pay tribute to her

Sir Richard had suffered a shoulder injury in India in the days before she passed away. 

The billionaire had jetted back the ten hours to the UK for treatment.

He was admitted to hospital on the same floor as Lady Joan, who was recovering from a back injury. 

The couple had three children, Sam, Holly, and Sarah Clare, who sadly died at just four days old.

Sharing a series of sweet photographs of the couple over the years, Sir Richard revealed on yesterday how his wife had died – and that he was with her.

Describing what happened he said: ‘Fate has a strange way of working. As many already know, I’d come off my bike in India and hurt my shoulder. Joan was recovering from her own back injury in hospital in England.

‘In the way life sometimes surprises you, I found myself moved to a room just down the corridor from her. 

‘We laughed together about how typical it was of us to end up on the same floor, like love-struck teenagers delighted to find each other again. 

‘We had a lovely lunch that day. She was in positive spirits and getting stronger. She smiled at me, that radiant smile that lit up her whole face, the same smile I fell in love with the very first moment I saw her, half a century ago. Then suddenly, she was gone, quickly and painlessly. And thankfully, I was right by her side. It brings us all great comfort to know we were together.’ 

The tycoon suffered a shoulder injury after coming off his bike in 2016. But it appears he was injured in a fall over the past week, in India.

On Friday he posted a video of himself at the Taj Mahal on Friday and shared pictures of himself at the landmark on Sunday.

It is still not known when he was hurt. 

The couple are pictured with their two adult children, Holly and Sam 

Sir Richard, who said he is now with the couple’s two adult children Holly, 44, and Sam, 40, added: ‘What an incredible final year we all had together. Her beautiful 80th birthday celebration at Kasbah Tamadot in Morocco, surrounded by her closest friends; Sam’s 40th celebrations onboard Virgin Voyages; countless moments where she was beaming with happiness. 

‘She lived so fully and joyfully, always thinking of others, always lifting everyone else up. To see her so happy in those last months is something we will treasure forever.’ 

Signing off the tribute, Sir Richard called Lady Joan his ‘shining star’, adding: ‘We are devastated she is gone. But I am far more grateful for the extraordinary gift of the life we shared – with our remarkable kids, Sam and Holly, and our wonderful grandkids, who adored her (and her sweets!) just as deeply as I did. 

‘Joan was my everything, the shining star around which our family’s universe has always orbited. That light is not gone; it’s just taken on a new shape. It will guide us forward. And we will carry her with us, always.’ 

It comes as an emotional video of the pair getting married on Sir Richard’s private island, Necker Island, in 1989 has come to light, showing the business magnate putting a ring on Lady Joan’s finger. 

The couple met in 1976 at The Manor, a live-in recording studio for Virgin Records, where Sir Richard said he ‘fell in love’ at first sight. 

Footage shows the couple sharing a long kiss on their wedding day as Lady Joan places her veil over her husband’s head, encompassing both of them.

Tributes to Joan poured in on Wednesday, with the couple’s son Sam Branson describing her as the ‘kindest, most loving, warm, witty and abundantly generous woman to walk this Earth’.

Sharing a touching photograph of himself and Lady Joan with one of her grandchildren, he said of his mother: ‘You instantly made everyone in your presence feel like all was well with the world.’

Lady Joan and Sir Richard Branson pictured with their children, Holly and Sam

Richard and Joan Branson got married on Necker Island in the Caribbean Sea in 1989  

Sam Branson shared a touching photograph of his mother Lady Joan with one of her young grandchildren as he paid tribute to her on Wednesday

Sam Branson said he is ‘so deeply grateful to have had the privilege of being your son and being able to call you mum’

He added: ‘Thank you for all that you were to me, to our family and to everyone who was blessed by your graceful, loving presence.

‘I am so deeply grateful to have had the privilege of being your son and being able to call you mum.

‘Words cannot express how much I will miss you and how I wish you were still here to console me about the loss of you. But somehow you still are… and that is the magic of you. I love you to the moon and back. Forever and Ever.’

Family friend and former model Heather Mills added: ‘There are very few words you can say to somebody in pain after loving someone they adore so much, so I thought I would say it with this song. 

‘Those who knew Joan will know what this means….to my dear Richard Branson and his family at this difficult time.’

Announcing the tragedy hours earlier, the business magnate uploaded a close-up of his wife, accompanied by a moving tribute which read: ‘Heartbroken to share that Joan, my 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.

‘She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world. Love you forever, Joan x.’ 

In another post on November 15, the Virgin tycoon posted a photo showing him kissing his wife’s head alongside the words: ‘Everyone needs a Joan in their life.’ 

And on November 12, he wrote a paragraph including words for his wife alongside an old picture of them. ‘I credit a good deal of my success – not to mention my marriage – to being a good listener,’ he wrote. 

Lady Joan was thought to be in good health when she celebrated her 80th birthday this summer, with Sir Richard paying tribute to her on his social media. 

Sir Richard shared this photo of Lady Joan on his social media accounts to announce his wife’s death just over a day later 

In a post earlier this month, the Virgin tycoon posted a photograph, showing him kissing his wife’s head. He captioned it: ‘Everyone needs a Joan in their life’ 

Sir Richard and Lady Joan share a kiss on their wedding day in Necker Island in 1989

Sir Richard announced the death of Joan, his beloved wife of 50 years

The couple pictured with their daughter Holly. The pair were wed in 1989 when their two children, Holly and Sam, were eight and four

Sir Richard pictured with Lady Joan and their daughter Holly in 2003

‘Thank you for being by my side through it all – the highs, the lows, and all those quiet, content and peaceful moments in between. These are the moments I cherish most with you, I love you more and more each year,’ he wrote on Facebook in July. 

The couple had been looking forward to celebrating their 50th anniversary in just a few months on February 7. 

Lady Joan, who is survived by her two adult children with Sir Richard and five grandchildren, has long been credited as the billionaire’s ‘rock’ and ‘source of wisdom’. 

The business magnate has previously revealed how he was taken in by the ‘beautiful, witty, down-to-earth’ woman when she visited the studio in West London.

After finding out that she worked nearby, he recalls how he set about wooing her.

In a 2015 blog celebrating her 70th birthday, Sir Richard said: ‘I fell in love with her from the first moment I saw her, while she worked in a bric-a-brac shop in Westbourne Grove, in London.

‘A blonde-haired, down to earth, Scottish beauty who didn’t suffer fools, Joan was unlike any other women I had ever met.

‘To win her heart, I had to persistently hang around the shop and buy countless objects before we started courting…’

Sir Richard was so keen to win Lady Joan’s heart that he even admitted to buying his private island in the Caribbean, Necker Island, entirely as a strategy to woo her. 

He signed off the blog: ‘As the saying goes, behind every man there’s a great woman.

‘Joan you are the greatest woman of all. Happy birthday and thank you for choosing to come on this adventure with me.’