Sir Richard Branson leans back in the captain’s chair on board his £18 million racing yacht, as Formula One cars tear along the Monte Carlo quayside just a few yards away. He puts his shoeless feet up on the control panel and – would you believe it – yawns. ‘Sorry,’ he says, grinning. ‘I had a late night. My children took me out on the town.’
The sleek Necker Belle has been sailed all the way from Branson’s island home in the Caribbean to be moored among the giant cruisers belonging to the super-rich over this Grand Prix weekend, but he isn’t even staying on board. The Virgin tycoon and his children Holly, 28, and Sam, 26, are sleeping (or not) at the Columbus Hotel, owned by driver David Coulthard. ‘The Monaco Grand Prix is very social,’ says Branson sheepishly. ‘There is a lot of noise though.’ Yawning? Complaining about the noise? Is this really the buccaneer billionaire, the tireless deal-maker just as famous for risking his life trying to break world-speed records at sea and in the air? He must be feeling his age. Read the rest here