WORLD EXCLUSIVE!
ANNA NICOLE SMITH WEDS HOWARD K. STERN!
ANNA NICOLE SMITH WEDS HOWARD K. STERN!
Posted Thursday, Sept. 28 / 2 pm ET
Updated Friday, Sept. 29 / 11 am ET
Star has broken the world-exclusive story that Anna Nicole Smith married her long-time attorney and close confidante, Howard K. Stern, shortly before 10:30 am in Nassau, Bahamas on Thursday, September 28! The wedding occurred only 18 days after the death of Anna's son Daniel, 20, from an accidental drug overdose in her Nassau hospital room on September 10.
Shortly after 7 am on the 28th, an eyewitness tells Star, Anna and Howard arrived at the private dock of the Paradise Harbour Club & Marina, where they boarded a 42-foot catamaran along with their three-week-old daughter, Dannie Lynn Hope, a small group of friends, their security guards and a local Baptist minister. The weather was beautiful — sunny and 82 degrees, with a cool breeze.
The eyewitness tells Star that Anna was wearing a loose, white, short-sleeved linen dress, which ended just below the knees and showed plenty of cleavage, and sported dark shades and a sun hat. Howard was wearing faded jeans and an island-style print shirt.
Sources say Anna and Howard had been partying straight through the previous evening, into the morning of the boat trip.
The catamaran left the dock at 7:30 am and cruised west, under power of the boat's engine, on the ocean side of Paradise Island. A source says that coffee, tea and mimosas were served during the ride, and that they turned off the engine after a half-hour and sailed leisurely the rest of the way to one of the many beautiful small islands dotting the waters.
The source adds that the boat was stocked with fresh fruit, pastries, cold salads and vegetable platters.
Anna and Howard spent most of the trip inside the boat's master cabin, says the source. But just before 10:30 am, the minister gathered everyone together and then called for Anna and Howard to come out on deck.
The happy couple emerged in a change of clothing: Anna was now wearing a full-length, sleeveless, white tulle wedding dress with an embroidered top, a sweetheart neckline and a veil, while Howard sported a standard dark suit over a white, open-necked dress shirt.
Facing the minister, and with one male and one female friend standing alongside as Best Man and Maid of Honor, the source says Anna and Howard held hands and exchanged rings and traditional "I Do's," before the minister pronounced them "man and wife." The couple then kissed lovingly as their guests applauded.
A local insider tells Star: "Anna and Howard had been talking with a local jeweler before the wedding. After trying to get a $10,000 diamond ring for free, they bought it."
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| The catamaran on which Anna and Howard wed, says a source. |
The source says the catamaran anchored near an island at 11 a.m., and an accompanying speedboat ferried any passengers that wanted to go ashore to the island. Anna changed into a bikini with a wrap around her waist to hide the scar from her recent C-section, and she and Howard went ashore to have pictures taken by a photographer they brought along.
A little after 1 pm, the catamaran pulled up anchor and headed back east, where it anchored once again in a beautiful spot between two islands. By this time, says the source, Anna had changed into a one-piece print swimsuit, and Howard was now wearing cargo shorts and a black T-shirt.
Everyone continued to celebrate until roughly 4:30 pm, when, eyewitnesses tell Star, the boat took the newlyweds back to the Paradise Harbour Club & Marina's dock.
Just a few hours later, a rep for Smith at TrimSpa (whose diet products are endorsed by Anna Nicole) issued a confirmation of the event — yet insisted Smith and Stern had held a "committment ceremony" instead of a wedding, in which the happy couple vowed to "be each other's strength during this difficult time." Smith's Bahamian attorney, Michael Scott, also announced: "I don't think they had time to wait for a marriage license."
Two days before, on September 26, Stern had appeared live on the Larry King Show via satellite from the Bahamas, to announce that he was the father of Anna's newborn daughter Dannilynn Hope, that he and Anna "love each other" — and that the duo would get married "at some point."
Apparently, that point arrived much sooner than later. A source adds: "Stern was making all the arrangements in the days before the wedding."
This is apparently Stern's first marriage, but the third for Smith. She was a teen bride with Billy Wayne Smith (Daniel's father) in Texas in 1985; they divorced two years later. Smith then married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall in June 1994. He died in 1995, and Anna — who recently became a legal resident of the Bahamas — is still battling in court for her share of his estate.
Read next week's Star for all the incredible details!
EXCLUSIVE: LARRY BIRKHEAD REACTS TO THE SHOCKING NEWS!
When contacted by Star about our breaking story of Anna Nicole Smith's wedding to Howard K. Stern, celebrity photographer Larry Birkhead, 31 — the former Smith boyfriend who has steadfastly claimed to be the father of Anna's new daughter Danilynne Hope — stated: "That’s not a grief-stricken mother. He [Howard] wants to take over paternity and that’s his maneuver. Nothing shocks me now. It gets crazier and crazier.”
Click here to read about Anna Nicole's son's toxicology report.
For more on Anna Nicole Smith, click here.
