Larry Birkhead, Anna Nicole Smith’s ex, brought their daughter Dannielynn, 15, to the Barnstable Brown Gala in Louisville on Friday, the eve of the Kentucky Derby.
The event holds special significance for the father-daughter couple, as Anna Nicole first met Larry at the 2003 Barnstable Brown Gala.
Dannielynn and her dad have been a regular at the annual beano for years, and this year they gave a special tip of the hat to the teen’s late mother.
As seen on Larry’s Instagram, Dannielynn arrived in a Guess top splashed with Anna Nicole’s own modeling photos for the brand.
It was in 1992 that Anna Nicole became the face of the fashion brand, which propelled the emerging young model to international fame.
Family time: Anna Nicole Smith’s ex, Larry BIrkhead, brought their daughter Dannielynn, 15, to the Barnstable Brown Gala in Louisville on Friday, the eve of the Kentucky Derby
Tribute: In a tip of the hat to her late mother, Dannielynn arrived in a Guess top splashed with Anna Nicole’s own modeling photos for the brand
Remember when: It was in 1992 that Anna Nicole became the face of the fashion brand – which propelled the emerging young model to international fame
Dannielynn was a hit for Anna Nicole as she posed smiling on her dad’s arm for a few snaps he posted to his Instagram page.
‘On the way to the annual Barnstable-Brown Derby Eve Gala. Tonight marks 20 years since I met Dannielynn’s mother at the same event,” he noted.
While offering a series of fashion credits at the bottom of the caption, he touchingly revealed that Dannielynn was wearing the jewelry she inherited from Anna Nicole.
“More Barnstable-Gala pre-party photos,” he wrote with another Instagram caption. “I can’t believe Dannylynn is almost 17. Time for a great Derby weekend.’
Ahead of this year’s Derby, Larry gave DailyMail.com an exclusive interview to lift the curtain after his two-and-a-half years with Anna Nicole.
‘I first met Anna in 2003 and she blew me kisses. I was intrigued by her, but we didn’t interact too much,” he candidly revealed. “She came back the following year and she was completely transformed. I always thought she was so beautiful. She has a unique look. But when she returned to the Derby in 2004, she was in top form.’
The dashing blonde recalled, “She blew kisses at me, but I thought she did that for everyone. Be flirty for the camera. I never thought she’d want a man like me from Kentucky, when she could have all the boys that want it.’
Larry, a photographer, was later called upon by Anna Nicole’s team to photograph her at a children’s charity event “and the sparks were back.”
They kept in touch for a few weeks, until “I got a call from Anna and she said she wanted me to move in with her in LA and be her personal photographer.”
Larry recalled fondly, “Of course I said yes. When I first went there, I looked around her house and I asked her, “Where am I going to stay?” She laughed and replied, “Here with me,” pointing to her bedroom.”
They continued a live-in romance that lasted until Anna Nicole’s pregnancy with Dannielynn lasted months when she suddenly left for the Bahamas.
Her breakup with Larry came amid her legal battle over the $30 million she says was promised by her billionaire late husband J. Howard Marshall, whom she infamously married just 14 months before his death when he was 89 and she was 26.
All in the family: Larry also touchingly revealed that Dannielynn wore the jewelry she inherited from Anna Nicole on Friday night
Remember When: The event holds special significance for the father-daughter couple, as Anna Nicole first met Larry at the 2003 Barnstable Brown Gala, where she is pictured
The way they were: Before this year’s shindig, Larry DailyMail.com gave an exclusive interview to lift the curtain after his two-and-a-half years with Anna Nicole
“They took her to the Bahamas because she was in a lawsuit for all that money, and they thought I was going to try and take it from her, so they saw me as a threat and Anna believed it,” Larry claimed .
Three days after Dannielynn was born, her half-brother Daniel died of a drug overdose, and so did Anna Nicole five months later.
Anna Nicole, who listed her boyfriend Howard K. Stern on the birth certificate as Dannielynn’s father, left her entire estate to her daughter after her death.
A series of men, including Zsa Zsa Gabor’s ninth husband, claimed to be Dannielynn’s real father until a DNA test confirmed it was Larry.