Sir Richard Branson‘s daughter Holly has praised her parents for allowing her to identify as a boy throughout her childhood, describing their open-mindedness and unconditional love as ’empowering’.
The 43-year-old daughter of the Virgin billionaire CEO shared a heartfelt Instagram tribute to her mother Joan to mark her 80th birthday on Tuesday, recalling how she lived as a boy from the age of four until nearly eleven – and how her parents never once made her feel ‘strange’.
Posting a throwback photo of her mum, Holly wrote: ‘The last few weeks have been filled with so much love and magical family moments.
‘As a family, we love to be surrounded by people (strangers and friends alike), great food, good music, bad dancing, and lots of laughter.
‘My heart is full after an early celebration of [brother] Sam’s 40th birthday onboard… quickly followed by wonderful mum’s 80th birthday.’
Sir Richard Branson ‘s daughter Holly (pictured) has praised her parents for allowing her to identify as a boy throughout her childhood
Holly recalled how she lived as a boy from the age of four until nearly eleven – and how her parents never once made her feel ‘strange’ (Holly, right, with her parents and brother Sam)
She continued: ‘My mum hates to be in the spotlight, but I’d love to share some of the most precious lessons I’ve learnt from her.
‘The most amazing quality my mum has is the ability to love unconditionally… Having a daughter who decided from the age of four that she wanted to be a boy must have been difficult to navigate back then.
‘Mum (and Dad) never made me feel like I was strange in any way, and I am so thankful to them both for this.’
Holly, who has three children with husband Freddie Andrewes, added: ‘Mum has always been so open-minded, empathetic and kind.
‘Truly letting me and Sam be totally free to become the people we wanted to be… I’ve realised that unconditional love and support also comes with a large helping of patience – thank you for teaching me that, Mum.’
Holly, who is Chief Purpose and Vision Officer at Virgin, has previously described how as a child she ‘dressed like a boy, stood up to pee, and even gave myself different male names’.
Speaking on TV presenter Natalie Pinkham’s podcast in 2021, she said: ‘At the age of four, I decided I was a boy. It wasn’t that I wanted to be a boy – it was that I was a boy. It was just after my brother was born and… maybe I wanted to be like him.
‘This wasn’t just a quick thing that stopped after a few months or years, it lasted until I was nearly 11.’
The 43-year-old daughter of the Virgin billionaire CEO shared a heartfelt Instagram tribute to her mother Joan to mark her 80th birthday on Tuesday
Holly has previously described how as a child she ‘dressed like a boy, stood up to pee, and even gave myself different male names’ (pictured with her father in 1984)
She added: ‘I was so lucky to have parents that were really accepting of it, that they didn’t question any of it, they let me be who I wanted to be.’
Her mother’s acceptance, she explained, extended to her eventual decision to return to wearing girls’ clothes.
A pivotal moment came when she asked for a dress for Christmas: ‘Mum thought, ‘I’m not going to give Holly a dress from me as it feels too pressurised,’ so she got one of our family friends to get me a dress… and that was the turning point.’
Holly now shares her mother’s patient and loving approach in raising her own children – twins Etta and Artie, ten, and daughter Lola, six.
She has previously spoken of her ‘difficult and distressing’ fertility journey, revealing she endured two miscarriages and two failed IVF attempts before considering adoption and surrogacy.
In recent years, the number of children identifying as the opposite sex has surged. While some experts believe long-term identification is indicative of being transgender, others argue it can be a temporary phase.
