The Virgin Group founder announces on Twitter that his mother Eve has passed away at the age of 96 after expending 'all of her energy' to fight off coronavirus.
- Jan 12, 2021
AceShowbiz - Sir Richard Branson's mother Eve has died at the age of 96 after contracting Covid-19.
Announcing her death on Twitter, Branson said his mother had managed to "fight off the virus, but had expended all of her energy in the process."
"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," he tweeted and shared a link to a lengthy tribute posted on the Virgin website.
"As for so many of us in these days of Covid, it feels so strange that the person who has always been there for us, with such zest for life, is gone," the billionaire businessman said.
Eve was a grandmother of 11 and great-grandmother of 10. Her son described how she had taken glider lessons disguised as a boy, acted on the West End stage, enlisted in the WRENS during the Second World War and toured Germany as a ballet dancer after the war.
In her later years, she founded the Eve Branson Foundation, a small non-profit based in Morocco aimed at providing young people with craft skills training.
In 2011, Eve hit headlines when it was reported she was saved from a fire on her son's private Caribbean island by actor Kate Winslet. She later denied the dramatic reports, insisting Winslet had simply carried her down four steps as everyone evacuated.
