Coroner’s inquest reveals Chelsea private hospital at fault for death of Richard Branson’s wife Joan Branson

A coroner’s inquest has revealed that Lady Joan Branson, Sir Richard Branson’s late wife, died of preventable causes in November last year.

The Westminster Coroner’s Court found that Lister Hospital in Chelsea is responsible for not providing Lady Branson with life-saving medication resulting in her death at age 80 on 24 November 2025.

Senior coroner Professor Fiona Wilcox told the court on Wednesday that the hospital failed to deliver Lady Branson with vital prophylactic anticoagulants despite a “very high risk of developing deep vein thrombosis”.

Lady Branson died from a pulmonary embolism, which is a sudden and dangerous blockage in a lung artery, resulting from deep vein thrombosis.

“I do find her death would have likely been prevented and the lack of anticoagulation did cause or contribute to her death probably,” Professor Wilcox told the inquest.

Lady Branson was admitted to the private hospital in Chelsea on 17 November after suffering a fall a few weeks earlier which resulted in a fractured pelvis and right hip.

Upon her admittance, attending doctor Dr Basir Kunduzi failed to complete a bleeding risk assessment.

Haematologist Dr George Adams told the inquest that Lady Branson’s fractures put her at an “extremely high risk” for blood clots and the “biggest risk factor by far was her immobility and her fracture.”

Dr Adams reinforced the hospital’s failure to provide Lady Branson with prophylactic anticoagulants contributed to her death.

“More likely than not, it would have reduced the chances of her having a fatal pulmonary embolism,” Dr Adams said.

Professor Wilcox assured the court that there “wasn’t an absence of treatment” and it was “not a case of neglect,” despite Lady Branson’s preventable death.

Dr Kunduzi told the inquest that the circumstances surrounding Lady Branson’s death under his care have caused him to “reflect on my role as a doctor” and the importance of “good communication between team members” in a medical setting.

Following her death last year, Sir Branson described his wife of 50 years as the “shining star around which our family’s universe has always orbited”.