Playboy chief backs Anna Nicole burial ruling

Hugh Hefner says he believes Anna Nicole Smith – a former Playboy Playmate - wanted to be buried in the Bahamas next to her late son, Daniel.

A judge in Florida, where Smith died this month, has awarded custody of her remains to a court-appointed lawyer for Ms Smith’s 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, and urged that burial be in the Bahamas.

The lawyer then announced that the Bahamas would be Ms Smith’s final resting place.

“I think she was a dear person,” Mr Hefner, the founder of Playboy, told reporters at an event to announce the line-up of the annual Playboy Jazz Festival.

“We miss her and I think probably that decision was the right one. I think she wanted to be there with her boy, with her son,” the 80-year-old said.

A hearing in Fort Lauderdale ended yesterday with a decision to bury Smith at a Nassau cemetery beside her son, who died last year while visiting her days after she gave birth to Dannielynn.

Ms Smith’s estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, wanted to bury Smith in her native Texas.

Anna Nicole appeared on the cover of Playboy in 1992, and the following year was chosen as Playmate of the Year.

The hearing to determine guardianship of the girl, Dannielynn, is expected to resume in private on Monday, with Ms Arthur and Ms Smith’s partner Howard Stern expected to attend,

A separate hearing at the same court on Monday is to consider a claim from Ben Thompson, a South Carolina developer who once dated Ms Smith, who says he owns the mansion she was living in, according to Mr Thompson’s Bahamian lawyer, Godfrey Pinder.

Mr Pinder said Stern would have to leave the house “immediately” if his client wins the verdict.

“He’s occupying the house illegally,” he said.

Mr Thompson says he loaned Ms Smith money for the house, known as Horizons, but she did not honour an agreement to pay the debt. Ms Smith’s camp has said the house was a gift.

A nanny has been caring for Dannielynn at the mansion during Stern’s time in Florida.