Sir Richard Branson’s mother Eve has died from coronavirus at the age of 96, he has revealed, as he paid tribute to the woman who ‘taught him the value of hard work’.
The Virgin boss took to Twitter to announce her death with a heartfelt post, writing: ‘I’m sorry to share that, sadly like a lot of people’s mums and dads right now in these days of Covid, my mum Eve has also passed away.
Rather than mourn her loss, I wanted to celebrate her wonderful life & the joy she brought to so many.’ Branson, 70, also published a tribute on his company website where he praised his mother as a ‘wonderful’ woman who taught him the value of hard work.
He added that his sister Vanessa and nephew Louis stayed by her side before her death and she entertained them and her nurses with ‘tales from her life and much laughter over glasses of whisky’. The billionaire shared tales from his mother’s life, revealing how she took glider lessons disguised as a boy in her youth before enlisting in the Wrens during World War II.