A coroner due to hold an inquest into the death of Sir Richard Branson’s wife has said she hopes lessons will be learnt from the hearing.
Lady Joan Sarah Drummond Branson, 80, reportedly died from a blood clot on November 24 at the Lister Hospital in Chelsea, west London, after an earlier fall.
After her death, Sir Richard described her as the “shining star around which our family’s universe has always orbited”.
A full inquest into Lady Joan’s death will take place on September 9, with several witnesses due to give evidence.
Professor Fiona Wilcox, senior coroner for Inner West London, told a virtual pre-inquest review hearing on Wednesday that the coroner’s court isn’t about “point scoring”.
She added: “I want to explore the facts, come to the correct conclusions and learn lessons from this.”
An expert who has provided a report for the inquest said during Wednesday’s hearing that there is “clear evidence of pulmonary embolism” – a blood clot in the lungs.
He also said the “overwhelming likelihood is there was a DVT” (deep vein thrombosis) – a blood clot in a vein.
Lawyers representing the Lister Hospital, which is part of HCA Healthcare UK, attended the pre-inquest review hearing.
Paying tribute to Lady Joan, Sir Richard wrote: “Life will never be the same without her. But we have 50 incredible years of memories – years filled with tears and laughter, kindness, and a love that shaped our family more than words could ever capture.
“It was a relationship that worked. We just had lots of laughs. We were very lucky.”
In an article written for the Virgin website celebrating his wife’s 70th birthday, the entrepreneur previously said he fell in love with Joan “from the first moment I saw her”.
She was working in a bric-a-brac shop in London’s Westbourne Grove at the time.
Sir Richard recalled that he had to “persistently hang around the shop and buy countless objects”, including an old advertising sign, before the pair started to date.
Their relationship began in the mid-70s.
