Mr McLaren's former partner Dame Vivienne Westwood, with whom he fathered a son, Joseph Corre, who founded the lingerie chain Agent Provocateur, has confirmed she will attend the funeral. She had not been in touch with Mr McLaren for several years.

He died from mesothelioma, a rare cancer affecting the protective lining around the body's internal organs, most commonly the lungs and the chest wall. It is most commonly associated with exposure to asbestos, but not all cases occur as a result of this.

"He was diagnosed with cancer in October, but you wouldn't know it to look at him," Ms Kim said. "He was very healthy his entire life, and originally he was doing exceptionally well.

"Surgery and chemotherapy don't do very much for this particular cancer. But we'd heard of other people who'd extended their lives by natural treatments. The more research we did we found it was a very good way to recover, and as he wasn't suffering very much, he decided to go down this natural route. He didn't like the sterile hospital environment. He thought this would be better psychologically. The clinic he visited in Switzerland gave him vitamin supplements, special foods, and other natural treatments, and he only visited as an outpatient.

"Nobody expected him to die so quickly. Even two weeks ago the doctors said they had begun to feel pessimistic, and that he would only have a few more months. But then things just deteriorated so rapidly. The clinic was unable to treat him as an inpatient, and he moved to a hospital."

Mr McLaren died there on Thursday. Ms Kim, his son Joseph Corre and Ben Westwood, Vivienne Westwood's son from a previous marriage, were at his bedside. Mr Corre said yesterday: "He was the original punk rocker and revolutionised the world. He's somebody I'm incredibly proud of. He's a beacon of a man to look up to."

Sylvain Sylvain, a founding member of the New York Dolls, the band McLaren first managed, said: "Malcolm opened the doors for punk music. He was a visionary and took what was going on in New York City and made it global. He was a massive influence on everyone who ever had a punk shop or band. His passing represents the final chapter in an era when music was exciting."

Jah Wobble, the first bass player in John Lydon's band Public Image Limited, knew McLaren in the punk era. He said: "You can't deny he was very important. He was a very interestin