It probably should not come as any surprise then that the 92-year-old was cracking jokes right up until her death yesterday.

Her eldest son, and former US President George W. Bush, said in his first interview since his mother’s death that she was in good spirits.

He said she told her doctor that her son “is the way he is” because she “drank and smoked when (she) was pregnant with him.”

Mr Bush said his mother “was warm and wonderful, until you got out of line.”

He said she did not fear death because she believed in an afterlife and that she would be “wonderfully received in the arms of a loving God.”

Barbara Bush famously delivered a jab to son, Jeb Bush, when he was running for US President.

“The best news of the day was that my mum finally said I was her favourite,” Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, quipped to his mum.

“Oh no I didn’t,” she said laughing. “You mean of all of the children?”

“Yeah,” Bush deadpanned.

“No,” she quipped.

A funeral service for Bush is planned for Saturday at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, which she and her husband regularly attended.

Prior to Saturday, her body will lie in repose on Friday at the church for members of the public who want to pay their respects.

She will be laid to rest on grounds of the Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station.