The German president Johannes Rau described the Queen Mother as a ''great woman'' and US President George Bush said he and his wife were ''deeply saddened'' by her death.

''We remember the Queen Mother as a great woman who during her long life set an example for many people, not just in Great Britain,'' Rau said in a telegram to the Queen.

''She treated people in a friendly way, with sympathy and interest,'' he added. ''Many people in Germany admired her. Along with my compatriots, my thoughts are with you and the whole Royal Family in these hours.''

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, travelling with Bush in Texas, issued a brief statement: ''The president and Mrs Bush are deeply saddened by the death of the Queen Mother.''

Russian president Vladimir Putin sent a telegram of condolence to the Queen and the British people, but the text was not immediately released.

''The kindness of her smile created one of the most loved faces of our times,'' French president Jacques Chirac said in a letter to the Queen.

''The French learned to love her during the sombre and trying times when our two countries were fighting side by side for freedom.''

Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien praised the Queen Mother as a symbol of determination in the battle against Nazi Germany.

''Above all, she will be remembered for her matchless and galvanising devotion to duty during the darkest hours of World War Two, when Britain, Canada and the Commonwealth stood alone against a seemingly invincible tyranny,'' Chretien said.

Irish president Mary McAleese said the Queen Mother was ''a remarkable woman whose personality, fortitude and strength of character shone through in an extraordinary way.

The Queen's representative in Australia, Governor-General Peter Hollingworth, sent the nation's condolences to the Royal Family.

''Born five months before our federation as a nation, there is a very real way in which we can say that she has always been with us,'' Hollingworth said in a statement.

''As the Queen Mother over the last 50 years she will be remembered with the greatest affection for the wonderful way she combined the performance of her public duties with her joyous humour and irrepressible love of life,'' he said.