Friends, Family Mourn Anna Nicole
Pallbearers escorted Anna Nicole Smith's mahogany coffin covered by a pink blanket, with her signature and a smiley face spelled out in rhinestones, into Mount Horeb Baptist Church on Friday as hundreds of people gathered outside to mourn the model.
Though Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, apparently tried to halt the spectacle — Bahamian radio station Island FM reported Friday that Arthur's attorneys filed a petition in a Bahamas court to stop the funeral but it was later denied — the coffin was carried down a red carpet, lowered onto a cart and wheeled into the white-columned church, whose pews were festooned with pink peonies, pink roses, and stargazers. Onlookers cried out, "Anna! Anna!"
Arthur arrived at the last minute in a white stretch limousine with an entourage of about 10 people. She wore a black dress and was greeted with a loud round of boos from onlookers. There appeared to be fewer than 100 guests overall, even though an organizer said about 300 — including an "Entertainment Tonight" camera crew — had been invited to the private ceremony.
Friday night's episodes of "Entertainment Tonight" and its sister show "The Insider" were devoted entirely to their exclusive coverage of the funeral.
Smith's companion Howard K. Stern sat in the front row, with her ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead seated directly behind him. Both men are in a battle over custody of Smith's nearly 6-month-old daughter Dannielynn, but seemed to have put aside their differences for the moment, warmly shaking hands before sitting down.
Arthur, who is also battling for custody of Dannielynn, sat on the opposite side of the aisle from the men.Photos: Day Of Anna Nicole's Funeral
During Stern's emotional eulogy, he took an apparent shot at Arthur.
"It was wrong for people to betray Anna, so-called family members, people who claim to be friends, lawyers, even the judge. If these people had any decency or dignity or any concern for Anna or Dannielynn, they wouldn't have done it. It was disrespectful and it wasn't the truth," he said, throwing a glance in Arthur's direction.
Smith was buried with a tiara on her head and wearing a custom-made pink dress designed by her friends Pol Atteu and Patrik Simpson.
The pale pink silk and tulle gown had a heart design embroidered over the bust made of pink silk flowers and Swarovski crystals. The designers said the bodice symbolized how Anna died of a broken heart.
Richard Milstein, the court-appointed advocate for Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, called for "respect and solemnity" for all those congregating outside, including a horde of reporters.Timeline: Anna Nicole Smith
"Today we share our grief with all of you. ... Today we come to you to carry out the final, most sacred, solemn act provided to any individual," he said.
Gazing at the ranks of TV cameras and police dressed in crisp white or tan tunics with blue trousers, Christie Rathgaber, a tourist, was amazed.
"She's got a presidential kind of media frenzy going on," said Rathgaber, a 59-year-old nurse from Columbus, Ohio, who happened by the scene while waiting for nearby shops to open. "I'm just incredulous at all the fuss. She was not a world figure. She was not a queen. She was not a president. She was not anything ... It's just way over the top."Photos: Anna Nicole Smith - Tragedy Strikes
The legal wrangling that began with Smith's death at age 39 won't end with the funeral: There is pending legal action on the custody of Dannielynn, who stands to inherit a fortune, and on ownership of a Bahamas mansion Smith used to establish residency in the islands last year.
A private plane carrying Smith's body left Florida early Friday after authorities escorted a black hearse to Miami International Airport, with news helicopters tracking the procession from the medical examiner's office in Fort Lauderdale.
Both services were closed to the public and CBS News correspondent Drew Levinson reported barricades had been set up at the cemetery, Lakeview Memorial Gardens, where Smith was laid to rest next to her 20-year-old son, Daniel, who died in September.
Florist James Whitehead was filling orders from Smith's friends. "I just see her with beautiful flowers, with the roses, orchids and hydrangeas and soft colors," Whitehead told CBS News.
Even Smith's late husband, J. Howard Marshall II, was included in the events: an urn containing some of his ashes was placed in her casket.
Dr. Joshua Perper has said he will announce Smith's cause of death next week. "This was a complex case," he said. "It was an unusual case from a medical point of view."
Arthur had wanted to bury Smith in her native Texas, and fought last week's ruling from Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin that gave control of the body to Milstein.
But Stern insisted the former Playboy Playmate wanted to be buried next to Daniel, who died of apparent drug-related causes last year. Milstein agreed.
On Wednesday, a Florida appeals court upheld Seidlin's ruling.
Dannielynn did not attend the funeral and is living in a gated, waterfront home in the Bahamas, where a judge is hearing the child custody dispute between Arthur and Stern. Stern is listed as her father on the birth certificate.
In Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, Judge Lawrence Korda ordered DNA samples from Smith's body be turned over to Birkhead's attorneys. Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, also says he could be the father. But Korda said he had no jurisdiction to do anything further in the case.
Smith married Marshall, a Texas oil tycoon, in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26. His death in 1995 touched off a fight between Smith and Marshall's family over the inheritance of his estimated $500 million fortune. The battle, still raging at the time of her death, is likely to continue for some time to come.