The Virgin billionaire, 75, announced last month that his beloved wife and partner of 50 years had passed away
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Richard Branson shared an update over the death of his wife Joan(Image: Richard Branson/Instagram)
Heartbroken Richard Branson has shared an update with followers after the death of his beloved wife Joan. The Virgin billionaire, 75, announced last month that his wife and partner of 50 years had passed away – saying she was “my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world”.
Yesterday he issued an update thanking fans and adding: “We’re the kind of family that now just want to celebrate Joan and the wonderful life she lived.” Richard and Joan married in 1989 on his private Necker Island and had three children – Holly, Sam, and Clare Sarah, who died after four days – as well as five grandchildren.
Posting two pictures of him and Joan together, Richard wrote: “Thank you to everyone who has shared such kind messages about Joan. Our whole family are so touched by the outpouring of love. It brings us great comfort and it means so much to us all. We’re the kind of family that now just want to celebrate Joan and the wonderful life she lived.
“I feel so fortunate to have met her all those years ago. She was just a joy to be around – as so many of your messages reiterated. Sending big hugs to everyone who has been in contact. And to anyone who has lost a family member recently, our thoughts (and Joan’s thoughts, I’m sure) are with you as well.”
The post was liked tens of thousands of times with followers including Natalie Imbruglia sending their best wishes. The singer wrote: “So much love to you and the family Richard… love all the happy, funny stories shared of Joan. So much Joy!!! She is one in a million.”
Announcing Joan’s death on 25 November this year, he wrote a short message that 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.”
Richard later opened up about a strange coincidence that saw them able to spend her final days together after ending up in nearby rooms in the same hospital. He explained: “Holly, Sam and I are all together now, doing our best to smile through the tears and to focus on all the good things Joan brought into our world. There are so many.
“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.”
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The businessman later shared a picture of a picture of Joan in a monastery in Bhutan saying he was “incredibly touched” by the gesture. Richard wrote: “Thank you so much to everyone who has been in touch and shown so much love for Joan and our family over the past few days. It means the world to us.
TV presenter Claudia Winkleman has accepted an MBE from the King today as she was joined by her proud husband at Windsor Castle.
Claudia and her Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly were both made MBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours for their services to broadcasting. Just weeks after the announcement, the duo announced that they will be leaving the BBC dance show after fronting it together since 2014.
Claudia donned an all white suit for the occasion along with a pair of matching stiletto heels and a headband over her signature glossy locks. As she collected the honour, Claudia was seen cracking a joke with King Charles whose wife Queen Camilla is a known fan of Strictly. Claudia and Tess were both sent personal letters from the Queen after their MBE’s were announced, with Tess calling her visit to Windsor Castle ‘the proudest day of her life’.
Claudia Winkleman gave a beaming smile as she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by King Charles III ( PA)
Claudia was joined by her film producer husband Kris Thykier and her mum Eve Pollard. Claudia and Eve – a former editor of the Sunday Mirror – posed to pictures together in the castle grounds following the service.
Claudia began her career as a TV and radio presenter fronting a range of BBC TV shows including Comic Relief and The Great British Sewing Bee. She went on to present a range of programmes on BBC Radio 2 until 2024, including the comedy quiz series Hot Gossip, the Claudia Winkleman Arts Show and Claudia On Sunday.
After jointly receiving their honours, Claudia and Tess’ last appearance on Strictly will be the Christmas special, which will air on December 25. Last week the BBC confirmed that Claudia’s second reality series The Traitors will return to screens on New Year’s Day.
Former cabinet minister Dame Penny Mordaunt, who played a prominent role during the King’s coronation in 2023, joined Claudia at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. She was made a dame for political and public service.
Claudia was seen joking with Charles during the ceremony at Windsor Castle ( PA)
King Charles’ wife Camilla is a huge fan of Strictly ( PA)
Claudia’s MBE comes weeks after co-host Tess was given the same honour in November. Speaking after her ceremony, Tess said the King put her ‘nerves’ at ease.
She said: “This is probably the greatest honour of my career and it still feels quite surreal to be honest with you. I’ve been working in television for 25 years, and it’s a job I absolutely love to do. It was a real privilege to be in a room of people who have made a difference in their communities, who have built incredible careers. It was a very inspiring environment.”
She added: “His Majesty put me at ease – I was quite nervous. We talked about the show and I know the Queen enjoys it. She sent me a letter of congratulations when I received the MBE which meant the world.”
She added: “He (the King) thanked me for the work I have done for his charity as well – the King’s Trust.
Claudia Winkleman with her mother Eve Pollard ( AP)
“We talked about the funds that it’s raised and how many young people’s lives this has made a huge difference to and I’m very proud to be an ambassador of this charity.
“It’s just incredible to be welcomed into a royal residence by a member of the royal family – the King, no less – and to have such an honour bestowed upon you is something that you don’t take lightly.
“I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. It’s for my family as much as it is for myself.
Tess Daly with her husband Vernon Kay and their eldest daughter Phoebe Kay ( Getty Images)
“If I could dedicate it to anyone, I would dedicate it to my late dad because he’d be so proud of his daughter meeting the King, in a castle.”
Speaking about her forthcoming departure from Strictly, she said: “I love the show, it’s wonderful and it’s just fantastic to have worked on it for as many years as I have. It’s been such a great opportunity to work with incredibly talented people. Obviously for me, there’s no show like it.
“I will miss it but I’m quite looking forward to a lie-in on Saturday morning – and new ventures in the new year.”
Asked who will replace her, she said: “I have no idea, it’s not up to me.
“I’ll be watching at home with Claudia – we’ll be watching the launcher together!”
Max McCusker has become the second Irish Olympic swimmer to join the controversial Enhanced Games.
In October, three-time Olympian Shane Ryan confirmed he had signed up after announcing his retirement from swimming, a move which was condemned by Swim Ireland.
McCusker, who represented Ireland at the 2024 Paris Games, has followed Ryan’s decision to join a competition that will allow athletes to use performance-enhancing substances without being subject to drug tests.
Team GB Olympic swimmer Ben Proud, four-time Greece Olympian Kristian Gkolomeev and US sprinter Fred Kerley are among those set to compete.
The first Enhanced Games are due to take place in Las Vegas in 2026 with each event awarded a total prize purse of $500,000 (£375,000) and $1m (£750,000) on offer for competitors who break world records.
McCusker, 26, competed in the men’s 4x100m medley relay in Paris alongside Ryan, Conor Ferguson and Darragh Greene.
At the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, McCusker broke the Irish 100m butterfly record twice in one day with times of 52.52 and 52.31 seconds.
The former Arizona State University swimmer also set an Irish 100m butterfly record of 51.90 seconds during the Irish Open in 2024.
I’m A Celebrity star and Spandau Ballet sensation Martin Kemp has made a stunning admission about his career just days after finishing seventh in the hit ITV series
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Martin Kemp with Shirlie after leaving I’m A Celeb(Image: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
I’m a Celebrity campmate Martin Kemp has made a candid career admission after leaving Australia.
Coming seventh on the ITV show, the Spandau Ballet heartthrob earned a reputation as the Camp Dad, counselling co-star Jack Osborne on screen and even treating campmates to a rendition of 1983 hit single Gold.
And in a new interview, the singer revealed why he joined the iconic show – and it wasn’t to “ boost his career”. Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: “I went in there because I love iconic television and I wanted to experience it.”
Then, in an astonishingly honest admission, he confessed: “I am at the end of my career.” The 64-year-old went on to say he is “happy” with where he is in his life and “no longer takes jobs that are just a springboard to the next”.
On the show, Martin treated viewers and campmates to anecdotes about domestic bliss with his wife, fellow 80s pop star Shirlie Holliman. The couple have been married for 40 years, and she greeted Martin as he walked across the bridge after lasting 20 days in the camp.
He is not the first in his family to endure the bushtucker trials. His son, TV personality Roman Kemp, starred in the 2019 series and came in third. Martin credited his son’s time on the show with inspiring him to have a go.
He reflected on his long life in the spotlight, saying his “ego was big enough” that he “assumed [fame] would last for ever”. During long conversations around the campfire with rapper Aitch, 25, and YouTuber Angry Ginge, 24, the singer recalled his younger self.
Ginge, real name Morgan Burtwistle, would go on to be crowned King of the Jungle.
The star also reflected on the distress caused by his 1995 diagnosis of two brain tumours. He recalls having “two years of living on the edge”. Martin underwent treatment with then trailblazing radiotherapy and has been living with a metal plate under his scalp since.
Despite the life-threatening experience, he remains calm after the ordeal. He insisted that “it is amazing how quickly you accept everything,” and acknowledged that “we all live with mortality”.
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Having shot to global fame alongside brother Gary in Spandau Ballet, Martin has been in the public eye since 1979. They released their first number one single, ‘True’, in 1983 and became the standard-bearers for the New Romantic movement.
The group first split up in 1990, before they announced a reunion tour in 2009. Their return was under threat in 2017, as lead singer Tony Hadley walked out. The remaining members limped on until cracks appeared in 2019, and the group disbanded.
Geordie Shore star, Holly Hagan, has spoken out about the heartbreaking loss of her sister, Darci, who tragically died in October, after a night out in Manchester
Holly Hagan has revealed her one big regret following the tragic loss of her sister, Darci, who died in October following an accidental drug overdose.
Darci, 19, was in a nightclub in Manchester when she took crystal MDMA – which she mixed into her drink – before losing her life just 48 hours later following a cardiac arrest.
Holly, 33, was incredibly close to her sister and told her followers she had been left “traumatised” following Darci’s passing. The Geordie Shore star, who recently revealed she was expecting her second child, has now opened up about a ‘red flag’ before Darci’s death in a heartbreaking admission.
READ MORE: Holly Hagan’s heartbreaking final act of kindness for sister after teen’s tragic deathREAD MORE: Leonardo DiCaprio reveals humble reason he always wears face mask in public
Saying she wished she had reached out to Darci before she went to clubbing at the Warehouse Project, Holly told Married At First Sight’s, Paul C. Brunson: “For some reason that night and I don’t know why I didn’t, I wish I had messaged her, because we know what Warehouse Project is.
“I don’t know why I didn’t think to message her to say what you doing tonight, let me know what you’re doing tonight, let me help guide you.”
Continuing Holly said: “Because for some reason this night she decided to order, not a pill, but powdered MDMA. And as far as everyone knows and talking to her friends, this is the first time she’d ever taken it.
“She went out this night and she had one alcoholic drink and then from what her friends said she poured an amount from the bag into her drink.”
Pointing out that Darci ‘clearly took too much’ of the drug, Holly explained that Darci was sick before collapsing at the bar as an ambulance was called.
Praising the paramedics for getting Darci to Manchester Infirmary as quickly as possible, Holly revealed her heartbreaking last moments with her little sister.
“To see my sister, just 19, lying in that ward was absolutely horrendous,” the heartbroken sister told the Daily Mail.
“I opened the curtain, and I have never seen anything like that in my life. I hope no parent or sibling ever has to see anything like that.
“She had tubes in her nose, in her mouth, she had bruises everywhere from where they had cannulas wherever they could put a cannula, she had tubes, needles in her neck, she had blood pouring out of her nose.”
Holly then revealed that a scan confirmed that Darci was brain dead, and there was nothing more doctors could do for her.
Sharing her heartbreaking final act for her sibling, the mum-of-one said she went out in the middle of the night to buy pyjamas for her sister before making sure that her hair – including £800 extensions – was brushed ‘so that my mam wouldn’t see any knots’.
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* If you have been affected by this story, Cruse Bereavement Support offers free help to make sense of how you are feeling. Click here for their website or call 0808 808 1677.
A case involving sprawling illegal betting schemes, which the FBI says involves star National Basketball Association (NBA) personalities and the New York mafia, could be headed towards plea deals, a Brooklyn court has heard.
Miami Heat player Terry Rozier has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. His bail has been set at $3m (£2.2m).
The judge said the case – one of two alleged schemes that have led to the arrests of 34 people – would be adjourned while plea deal negotiations take place for some of those who have been charged.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups earlier pleaded not guilty to allegations of participating in a separate mafia-linked, illegal poker operation.
The FBI investigation into the two alleged schemes reads like a Hollywood movie, with claims of X-ray tables at high-stakes poker games, and rigged betting on NBA player performances. They were allegedly linked to some of New York’s infamous Five Families, which have ruled the city’s mafia for decades.
What are the allegations?
FBI Director Kash Patel described the allegations to reporters as “mind-boggling”.
They include indictments in two major cases, officials said, both involving fraud.
The first case is called “operation nothing but bet”, in which players and associates allegedly used insider information to manipulate wagers on major sports betting platforms.
In some cases, players altered their performance or took themselves out of games to ensure those bets were paid out, according to New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch. Those bets amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in profits.
The second case is more complex in nature, officials said, and involved four of the five major crime families in New York as well as professional athletes.
The accused in that case are alleged to have participated in a scheme to rig illegal poker games and steal millions of dollars.
They did so using “very sophisticated” technology including off-the-shelf shuffling machines, special contact lenses and eye glasses to read pre-marked cards, according to authorities. They also used an X-ray table that could read cards that were face down.
The victims were allegedly lured to play in these games with former professional athletes, who acted as “face cards” in the scheme. The victims were unaware that everyone, including the dealer and the other players, were in on the scam.
Authorities said they began probing these poker games in 2019, spanning multiple locations including the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami and Manhattan.
The accused allegedly laundered profits via bank wires and cryptocurrencies.
They are also alleged to have committed acts of violence, including a robbery at gunpoint and extortion against victims.
Who has been charged?
All in all, authorities say 34 defendants were indicted on charges related to the two fraud cases.
Six people were charged in the first case of players allegedly faking injuries to influence betting odds, including Miami Heat’s guard Rozier. Rozier is in the last season of a four-year, $96m contract.
New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch alleged that in March 2023, Rozier, then playing for the Charlotte Hornets, let others close to him know that he planned to leave a game early with a supposed injury.
Members of the group then used that information to place fraudulent bets and cash out big, she said.
Speaking after the arrest, Commissioner Tisch said that Rozier’s “career is already benched, not for injury but for integrity”.
Former NBA player Damon Jones was also arrested. He is alleged to have been involved in two games that were part of the scheme: when the Los Angeles Lakers met the Milwaukee Bucks in February 2023, and a January 2024 game between the Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Jones retired from playing years ago, but since then has worked in assistant coaching jobs and media roles inside the world of the NBA. Jones has pleaded not guilty to charges that span both alleged betting schemes.
One alleged instance shared in the indictment claims Jones shared inside information with bettors about a prominent NBA player missing an upcoming game due to injury.
Authorities identified a total of seven NBA games between February 2023 and March 2024 that were part of the first case:
9 February 2023 – Los Angeles Lakers v Milwaukee Bucks
23 March 2023 – Charlotte Hornets v New Orleans Pelicans
24 March 2023 – Portland Trail Blazers v Chicago Bulls
6 April 2023 – Orlando Magic v Cleveland Cavaliers
15 January 2024 – Los Angeles Lakers v Oklahoma City Thunder
26 January 2024 – Toronto Raptors v Los Angeles Clippers
20 March 2024 – Toronto Raptors v Sacramento Kings
The second case relates to illegal poker games and involves a total of 31 defendants, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Billups, who was inducted to the basketball Hall of Fame last year.
Billups is on unpaid leave, and is not currently coaching the Blazers. He has pleaded not guilty and had his bail set at $5m.
Prosecutors allege that Billups acted as a “face card”, who gave the illegal poker scheme a veneer of prestige and lured unsuspecting players to rigged games.
This case involves an alleged underground poker operation that prosecutors say featured cheating devices like X-ray tables, specialised contact lenses that could read marked cards, and a compromised shuffling machine – all of which were designed to rig the games against unsuspecting high spenders at the table.
Thirteen members and associates of the Bonanno, Genovese and Gambino crime families in New York were also indicted in the illegal poker case.
Reuters
What has the NBA said about the allegations?
In a statement after the initial arrests in October, which coincided with the opening week of the basketball season, the NBA said it was in the process of reviewing the federal indictments that were announced and that it was co-operating with authorities.
The league added that Rozier and Billups were placed “on immediate leave” from their teams.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the statement said.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations.
“There’s nothing more important to the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition. I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.”
Silver said the NBA had previously investigated Rozier after sports books notified the association of unusual “prop bets” in 2023, where more than $200,000 was wagered on Rozier’s individual performance for a game.
“Terry at the time cooperated. He gave the league office his phone. He sat down for an interview. And we ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence despite that aberrational behaviour to move forward,” Silver said in an interview during the broadcast of an NBA game in late October.
Who are New York’s notorious ‘Five Families’?
Authorities said the alleged overall scheme involved four of the five well-known crime families of New York.
The Five Families – the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese – have ruled the city’s Italian American mafia since 1931.
Major mob takedowns reduced the prevalence of mafia activity in the 1990s, aided by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and then-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
But, as Thursday’s indictments show, the mafia has not entirely gone away.
The Five Families are part of the larger American-Sicilian mafia operation known as La Cosa Nostra, which translates to “this thing of ours”, and the members often work closely with their counterparts in Sicily.
