As Richard Branson announced the sad death of his wife Joan Branson, the Mirror takes a look at his first marriage to Kristen Tomassi
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has paid tribute to his beloved wife Joan Branson, who has sadly passed away at the age of 80. But few may recall that the Virgin tycoon went through a painful divorce before finding the woman he has poignantly described as his “guiding light”.
When Richard first laid eyes on Joan in the bric-a-brac shop where she worked in Westbourne Grove, west London, he was already married to Kristen Tomassi, an American woman who would later break his heart and send him “chasing her all around the world”.
Richard, now 75, and Kristen married very young. He was just 21, although already enjoying prominence as the head of Virgin Records, while she was a 20-year-old architecture and design student. The couple tied the knot in the summer of 1972 at Holy Cross Church in Shipton‐on‐Cherwell, close to Richard’s Manor Studios.
By the end of the ’70s, however, it was all over, with psychedelic singer-songwriter Kevin Ayers later breaking his silence on where exactly the marriage went wrong – and how he was accused of “stealing” the wife of one of the world’s wealthiest men.
READ MORE: Joan Branson: Richard recalls exactly how long it took for him to fall for his wife
Speaking with the Mirror in September 1998, Kevin, who died in 2013 at the age of 68, told of how he and Kristen allegedly fell for each other at a party thrown by Richard himself, who reportedly didn’t anticipate just how far things would go.
According to Kevin, the spark ignited at a bash held at Branson’s former home in Notting Hill, West London, back in the seventies. At the time, Virgin was interested in snapping up Kevin, a former member of rock band Soft Machine, and the popstar was there at Richard’s invitation. But it would appear that, on that night, business was the furthest thing from Kevin’s mind.
Kevin recalled: “It was a rich, middle-class affair with all the usual drink, drugs and rock and roll. Then I suddenly became aware of this beautiful, willowy blonde – Kristen – and there was an immediate spark, a life-changing flash. For the next couple of years, the attraction between us grew. I knew she was Richard’s wife, but everyone knew they were both playing around, so I kept sending her postcards to say’ Hi, it’s me’.”
Kent-born Kevin, who would later up sticks to Montolieu, France, claimed that Richard initially encouraged the growing closeness between him and Kristen, as he himself was attracted to the singer’s then wife, Cyrille. Indeed, Richard was so taken by Cyrille that he allegedly arranged for a party aboard his houseboat on the Regent’s Canal in London’s Little Venice.
Setting the scene for seduction with candles, scatter cushions, and atmospheric music, the two couples drank plenty of wine, and it wasn’t long before desire took over.
Kevin revealed: “During the evening, he disappeared with Cyrille into the bedroom, leaving me and Kristen looking at each other over the remains of the meal. Kristen seemed nonplussed, as if she’d been expecting it, but I realised this was going to be a very important evening for me.
“We’d had so much wine to drink it was no problem. It seemed as if Richard had arranged it, and I didn’t find it awkward to be alone with his wife. It just fell into place for us. The chemistry between us was right, and everything seemed natural, so we became intimate, although we didn’t have sex that night.
“I felt a spark igniting in my brain and my heart. It definitely wasn’t a one-night stand – this was a developing passion. I left the boat during the night, and the next day Cyrille told me, ‘Branson was so cheap the b*****d wouldn’t even pay my taxi fare home.’ However, there’d been no coercion. She had liked the idea of sleeping with him.”
In the weeks that followed, Kevin and Kristen got to know each other during nights out at pubs and concerts, and eventually they took things to the next level and slept together. According to Kevin: “I assumed Richard knew. He proudly boasted how they had an open marriage. But his problem was that this had started out as a game to him, now he was losing control.”
Kevin has claimed that Richard confronted him about the budding romance, sharing: “One day I was doing a concert in Hyde Park, and Richard exploded, ‘How could you do this to a friend, stealing my wife?’ He was angry and very emotional. I said, ‘No one steals a woman – she’s made up her own mind.'”
When it became clear that Kristen had chosen Kevin over him, Richard did everything in his power to win her back, pleading with her during late-night phone calls, as well as in a flurry of desperate letters.
Giving his version of events, Kevin remembered: “It’s pathological, because he can’t stand losing. For a year, he kept up a battery of letters and calls to Kristen, saying, ‘How can you leave me?’ It was nerve-racking and heart-wrenching.
“He’d be on the phone for hours as I sat in the next room, biting my nails. Kristen never told me what he said. It really upset her. She felt very guilty, and he played on her guilt. But Kristen didn’t want to hurt him. We fell in love – it was as simple as that.”
Those early days together were, in Kevin’s words, ‘idyllic’. They set up home together in Provence, where they welcomed daughter Galen, before buying a house in Majorca. Things ultimately began to unravel, however, and the pair called it quits after five years together.
Concluding that the move to Majorca had been a bad decision, Kevin reflected: “But it was a very bad move on my part. The social scene was very intense, a meat market of expatriates all flaunting themselves and on display. My career was going downhill, and I couldn’t provide the kind of security Kristen wanted.
“We drifted apart. Then she met Axel Ball – a rich German property developer – and moved in with him, keeping Galen. She’s been very happy with Axel and has had two boys with him. She was probably right to go. My precarious lifestyle was attractive, but it drove her mad.”
After their marriage crumbled, Richard and Kristen filed for divorce in 1979, and although he was initially heartbroken, he later saw things differently, noting how young they’d been when they’d walked down the aisle. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, he said: “We were probably a bit too young. I’m still friends with my ex and her children get on well with mine”.
In 1989, Richard married Joan on Necker Island, which he had previously admitted he purchased to impress his second wife. The couple went on to enjoy 50 happy years together before Joan’s death, with Richard this week sharing the following moving statement: “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.”
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READ MORE: Inside Richard Branson’s 50-year relationship with ‘love of his life’ as he issues tribute
Source: Mirror
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