Lady Sonia McMahon dies, aged 77

FORMER Prime Minister Sir William McMahon's wife, Lady Sonia McMahon, has died. OBITUARY, PIC GALLERY, LEAVE YOUR TRIBUTES

US President Richard Nixon escorts Sonia McMahon, wearing "that" dress, and husband Australian Prime Minister William McMahon to a function at the White House in 1971.

FORMER Prime Minister Sir William McMahon's wife, Lady Sonia McMahon, has died.

Lady Sonia passed away in a Sydney hospital.

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A statement from St Vincent's Private Hospital said Lady Sonia, mother of actor Julian McMahon and one-time mother-in-law of celebrity Danni Minogue, died late on Friday evening with her family by her side.

Lady Sonia, 77, had been battling cancer for over a year.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said Lady Sonia was a "distinguished representative of Australia''.

"She was a wife of a prime minister of this country, they lived in the house where we are currently standing this morning,'' he told reporters outside The Lodge, in Canberra.

"So I believe appropriate respects should be paid to her family, appropriate respect to the contribution that she and her husband made to Australia, and understand at a purely human level, this is a day of great sadness for any family.''

Her friend and journalist Barry Everingham said Lady Sonia's passing was the end of an era.

"The death of Sonia McMahon spells the end of an era when women went out of their way to dress in style, class and flair and some of their younger sisters would do well to take  a leaf out of their books,'' he said.

"Sonia personified all that was good in the style stakes and for many years she was a fashion leader;  even THAT dress with the split will never be forgotten, nor will the glimpse of the leg it uncovered!''

Details of Lady Sonia's funeral have not been released yet by her family.