Graham is mourned by Clintons

Katharine Graham was buried in Washington yesterday as she had lived, in the presence of the powerful, with the trappings of a state funeral, yet with the affection and intimacy due a local girl, one of the city's own. No king or conquering hero could have wished a finer send-off than the former publisher of The Washington Post, which broke the Watergate revelations that eventually toppled President Richard Nixon.

The ceremony was carried live on five TV channels. Police closed the route of the cortege between Washington's cathedral and Mrs Graham's handsome Georgetown home.

Ben Bradlee, her most famous editor, paid an affectionate tribute to "the most powerful woman in the world", speaking of "her love of news, her love for answers and her love of a piece of the action". She was, said Mr Bradlee, "a spectacular dame, and I loved her very much".