The late Anna Nicole Smith‘s 11-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, made her annual appearance at the Kentucky Derby Saturday, bringing some sunshine to a dreary, wet day at Churchill Downs.
Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter wore a white dress with blue flowers, along with a blue belt, white hat and white gloves. She smiled to reveal her braces. Her father, Larry Birkhead, wore a powder blue checkered suit with a blue tie.
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According to PEOPLE, Dannielynn’s dress was from Lesy boutique, while her father’s suit was designed by Nick Graham.
“Celebrating the [Kentucky Derby] with Dannielynn. Thanks [Nick Graham] for my cool suit! Dannielynn’s awesome southern belle dress by Lesy boutique. Rain won’t spoil our awesome Derby day,” Birkhead wrote on Twitter.
Celebrating the @kentuckyderby with Dannielynn. Thanks @itsnickgraham for my cool suit! Dannielynn’s awesome southern belle dress by Lesy boutique. Rain won’t spoil our awesome Derby day! 🐎 #halfwaycooldad pic.twitter.com/PaIvwNoYnM
— Larry Birkhead (@larrybirkhead) May 5, 2018
Dannielynn and her father, a photographer, live in rural Kentucky and have attended every Derby together since 2010. The Derby is also important personally for Birkhead, since it is where he first met Smith in 2003.
Dannielynn was just five months old when her mother died at age 39 from a drug overdose in Florida in 2007. She has been raised by Birkhead, who has tried to help his daughter connect with Smith.
In a 2012 interview with Good Morning America, Birkhead said he took Dannielynn to the Bahamas when she was 5 years old to see where her mother and half-brother Daniel are buried.
“And, you know she said, ‘Why did mommy die?’” Birkhead told Robin Roberts. “And I said, ‘You know, they, doctors couldn’t fix her. But if you’re good … you’ll get to see her someday.’”
As she gets older, Birkhead said she hopes she learns a valuable lesson from her mother’s life.
“I hope that she understands that no one’s perfect and people have triumphs and people have tragedies. And her mom really … soldiered on and she came from nothing and she, you know, lived her dream,” Birkhead said in 2012. “But I also want to make things a cautionary tale … and give her the tools that she needs to where she has the opportunities that her mother and Anna’s son, Daniel, you know, won’t have.”
During a 2016 interview with TODAY, Birkhead said Dannielynn is “just a regular kid” and not interested in being in movies or working as a model.
“People call me all the time and say can she be in a movie, can she model?” Birkhead said in 2016. “I didn’t care about it, so I’d say no she’s not interested. She’s just a regular kid. She’s into technology now and she’s into games and these YouTube videos.”
Photo credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Churchill Downs
