Anna Nicole... RIP

One of the last pictures taken,
during an Entertainment Tonight interview,
prior to Anna's untimely death.

The Trimspa site has a nice tribute up to the unforgettable and controversial blonde bombshell, stating:

Whippany, NJ, February 8, 2007 – Today, Anna Nicole Smith’s grief stricken and tumultuous personal life came to an end. Anna came to our Company as a customer, but she departs it as a friend. While life for Anna Nicole was not easy these past few months, she held dear her husband, Howard K. Stern, her daughter, Dannielynn Hope, her most cherished friends, beloved dogs, and finally, her work with TRIMSPA.

Anna knew both the joy of giving life, and the heartache of losing a child. We pray that she is granted the peace that eluded her more recent days on earth, and that she find comfort in the presence of her son, Daniel.

-- Alex Goen, CEO and Founder, TRIMSPA

...but how can she RIP? As if Anna Nicole's life, especially the latter part, wasn't filled with controversy and tragedy -- so has her death been filled with drama and unanswered questions....

...three men are set to battle it out to prove their paternity of Dannielynn - a baby that holds the key to a potential $475m (£247m) fortune...Even before Smith's death, two men - her former boyfriend Larry Birkhead and her attorney-turned-lover Howard K Stern - had claimed to be the child's father. On Friday, just hours after the Playboy model's death, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, became the third man to claim paternity rights. A birth certificate currently lists attorney Stern as the girl's father, but his paternity has been challenged by Birkhead, whose lawyer asked that DNA be taken from Smith's corpse to resolve a paternity case. While a judge in Los Angeles refused to order the DNA test, he ordered that Smith's body be preserved until a hearing on February 20. Experts say the decision over who receives custody of Dannielynn could determine the child's inheritance....Smith's death, like her life, remains shrouded in mystery. An autopsy on Friday did not reveal what killed her, although police have admitted they found no signs that her sudden death involved a crime. [the scotsman]

I tend to think the baby is Larry Birkhead's...hands down. At the very least, he should be granted the paternity test he's been fighting for. And how the hell this Prince Federick guy enters into it...well, I simply can't process. One thing is clear: It's totally outlandish to expect anyone to believ that Howard K. Stern is Dannilynn's daddy. Then there's this:

A family law expert tells TMZ that disposition will get sticky depending on what happens with the paternity suit and whether or not Anna and Howard's Bahamian commitment ceremony is deemed legally binding by a probate court. One complex issue is that Howard cannot legally be the executor and a beneficiary of the will. [tmz]