Anna Nicole Smith's lover, Howard K Stern, has spoken of his devotion to the former Playboy model during a court battle to determine where her body is to be buried. Mr Stern has gone to court to demand that Ms Smith's remains be laid to rest alongside those of her son, Daniel, in the Bahamas, where Mr Stern shared a home with her.

He said he had discussed death with Ms Smith because she had had a premonition she would die young, "like Marilyn Monroe", and that she had made it clear she wanted to be buried in the Bahamas.

However, Ms Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, is determined to take the body back to her native Texas.

"She was my whole world," Mr Stern said. "She was my best friend, my lover, the mother of my daughter. She was everything to me."

He explained that their relationship had started after he acted as her lawyer in the court battle over the legacy of oil tycoon J Howard Marshall II.

He added that Mr Marshall, whom Ms Smith married when he was 89 and she was 26, had been the "love of her life".

Ms Smith's five-month-old daughter, Danielynn, who could now inherit a multi-million-pound fortune, is at the centre of a three-way paternity battle.

A birth certificate lists Mr Stern as the girl's father.

However, Ms Smith's former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, is seeking a DNA test to prove he is the father and is also expected to testify at the hearing in Florida.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, has said he had a decade-long affair with Ms Smith and will file his own paternity challenge.

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin, who is in charge of the hearing that will decide where the model is laid to rest, initially signalled his intent to take control of the paternity battle, but changed his mind after hearing testimony in private.

He said he was determined to put Dannielynn's interests first, and added he wanted to give her mother the "dignity and the beauty that she wanted in her life" in death.

If Mr Stern gets custody of Ms Smith's remains, she will wear a frock by Beverly Hills designer Pol' Atteu in her open casket.

Mr Atteu's partner, Patrick Simpson, would not describe the dress but told the New York Daily News: "He knew how to accentuate every one of her sexy curves."

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