She lived in Hampstead, north London, before moving to a nearby care home after being diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
Bernard Lyall, the elder son of Whitehorn and her late husband, the crime novelist Gavin Lyall, paid tribute to his mother.
He said: “She was held in a lot of high esteem, part of the whole vanguard of feminist journalism at that time. She always worked from home. She was very loyal and deeply in love with my father, they were together for over 40 years until he died in 2003.”
Lyall said that, along with his younger brother, Jake, his parents made up a “tight family”. He said: “They both had a liberal attitude to a lot of things. They had both strived to be well educated.”
Pioneering Observer columnist Katharine Whitehorn dies aged 93 theguardian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theguardian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.