Tributes flooded in for the fearless journalist who twice won the British Press Award for Best Foreign Correspondent for her work covering wars in Bosnia, Iran, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Middle East correspondent for The Independent Robert Fisk said: "Marie was a dauntless lady of tremendous courage." A spokeswoman for the Duchess of Cornwall, who met Colvin at a service commemorating British journalists killed in conflicts, said: "She is very, very sad to learn of the death of Marie Colvin."
Rana Kabbani, the Syrian writer and daughter of former Syrian ambassador to the United States, tweeted: "Marie Colvin covered real humanitarian horror all over the world, but said Homs was the worst she had EVER seen. RIP, heroine.
"(She) was a striking, sassy and serious journalist. She never suffered fools like Assad gladly. He has left her body in bloody pieces." In November 2010, Colvin made an emotional speech at journalists' church St Bride's in Fleet Street during a service to commemorate the 49 journalists killed this century.
She said: "Covering a war means going to places torn by chaos, destruction, and death ...and trying to bear witness. It means trying to find the truth in a sandstorm of propaganda when armies, tribes or terrorists clash. And yes, it means taking risks, not just for yourself but often for the people who work closely with you.
Colvin said the scene of war had remained "remarkably the same for hundreds of years". She added: "Craters. Burned houses. Mutilated bodies. Women weeping for children and husbands. Men for their wives, mothers children. Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice.
"We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story. What is bravery, and what is bravado?"
