Anna Nicole Smith would be 50 years old if she was still alive today.
The star’s 11-year-old daughter, Dannielynn, and her father, Larry Birkhead, returned to the Bahama’s to remember Smith on what would have been her 50th birthday.
Smith died suddenly in 2007 from an accidental drug overdose when Dannielynn was just five months old. She was living in the Bahamas at the time of her death.
Tragically, just the year before, Smith’s 20-year-old son Daniel, also passed away, three days after Dannielynn was born.
Exclusive! Larry Birkhead and his daughter Dannielynn return to the Bahamas for Anna Nicole Smith’s birthday: https://t.co/ogXYULFVAG
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) December 3, 2017
Smith then renamed her newborn daughter to honour her late son.
Birkhead told US Weekly he was taking his daughter back to the Bahama’s “to let [Dannielynn] know why her mom loved this place so much”.
“I’m gonna call it her 11th 39th birthday,” Birkhead joked.
During their trip the pair visited the courthouse where Birkhead fought Smith’s lawyer and lover, Howard K Stern, for custody of Dannielynn after her mother’s death.
Birkhead told US Weekly that while they were there the Bahamas locals came “out screaming, ‘The people’s princess Dannielynn is here,’ because her birth was such a big deal. It’s special to bring her back and share her with the people”.
Exclusive! Larry Birkhead and his daughter Dannielynn honor Anna Nicole Smith’s legacy in the Bahamas: https://t.co/xhYi0ztuii
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) November 29, 2017
Birkhead says he’s always getting phone calls for Dannielynn to model.
“I tell her, ‘That’s a lot of work, and you’re only 11 years old. If it’s something you want to do when you get older, you can, but right now let’s sell some Girl Scout cookies’,” he said.
Dannielynn wants to be a “YouTuber and make videos” when she grows up and she wants her dad to go out and find a girlfriend.
Birken told the publication he’s always been honest when he’s spoken to Dannielynn about Smith’s turbulent life.
“I’ve always told her good things, and I’ve told her some of the things that weren’t so great to the extent that she’s able to understand them right now and just give her a balance of things,” he explained.
“She knows we only take medication we’re supposed to take and how we’re supposed to take it.”
In a touching gesture, Birkhead has held onto some of Smith’s dresses to gift to Dannielynn when she’s a little bit older.