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British couple on Air India flight named

British couple on Air India flight named

Yahoo12-06-2025
A British couple believed to have been aboard the crashed Air India flight posted about their 'magical experience' in the country.
Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who run a spiritual wellness centre and yoga studio, spoke of their love of India and the 'mind-blowing' experiences they had had just hours before the flight took off.
Just after leaving the airport, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was engulfed in a huge fireball after plummeting into a building in the suburb of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat state.
The flight, with 242 people, including 53 British nationals, on board was en route to Gatwick airport. Eleven children were among the passengers.
On Tuesday, the Greenlaw-Meeks had posted on their social media accounts from their boutique hotel in the city, The House of MG, about how they planned to create a vlog documenting their time in the city and were excited to tell people about the details.
Credit: jamiermeek / Instagram
Sitting beside his husband, Fiongal said: 'So it's our last night in India and we have had a magical experience, really – there have been some quite mind-blowing things that have happened.'
Jamie said: 'We really have been on quite a journey, and then just spending the last night here in this amazing hotel, and we have just had the most delicious Tali food. It was a perfect way to round up the trip. Excited to share it all with you'.
Other videos show Fiongal discussing how they were 'feeling very, very, very happy' and showing off the 'treasures' that they had bought before a final video showed them in the airport as the plane was boarding.
Credit: @wellnessfoundry / Instagram
The couple run The Wellness Foundry in south London and Ramsgate, Kent, which offers psychic readings, tarot, Reiki and yoga.
It has collaborated with brands including Dior, Google, and Netflix, according to its website, and was due to offer readings at Ramsgate's Pride march on Saturday.
In January, Fiongal appeared on ITV's This Morning to talk about people's auras and what they mean.
The couple's Wellness Foundry described it on Instagram as their 'biggest gig so far', adding that it was 'very nerve-wracking' but that Fiongal was 'honoured to chat about one of his favourite topics to such a big audience'.
The couple documented their professional and personal lives on social media, advertising 'psychic development' and spiritual retreats in the UK and Spain.
They have been together since 2019, getting married in various ceremonies, including one in Las Vegas, in 2022.
Jamie posted a series of pictures of their wedding day at Mill Farm in Gamlingay, Cambs, on Facebook, adding that they had made 'so many wonderful memories and fun to last a lifetime'.
He added: 'Thank you to my wonderful husband for keeping me calm in times of stress (sunshine after the rain)... My heart is so full of love and gratitude…'
Jamie has previously spoken about how he developed a passion for wellness and health when his late father was diagnosed with cancer.
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