Dannielynn Birkhead, Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, blooms into a Texan rose at Kentucky Derby

Anna Nicole Smith left behind one lasting legacy to her angelic appearance in the form of her daughter Dannielynn Birkhead, who is now five years old, and a beauty just like her mother.

The little girl is growing up fast, and is the spitting image of her mother, who was aged just 39 when she was found dead in a Florida hotel room.

Dannielynn Birkhead was named after her half-brother Daniel, who died from a lethal combination of drugs after collapsing in his mother’s hospital room in the Bahamas while visiting his newborn sister.

But her father Larry Birkhead, who was forced to establish paternity in a suit against Anna Nicole Smith’s then partner and lawyer Howard K. Stern, seems to have done a good job of making sure that this little girl who endured such tragedy around her during her first days on this planet, has a normal life.

Dannielynn isn’t seen in the public eye aside from the annual father-daughter pilgrimage to the Kentucky race, and then it’s impossible not to be taken aback by the likeness.

The full lips, wide eyes and even the arch of the eyebrows are almost exactly the same.

Dannielynn Birkhead isn't seen in the public eye aside from the annual father-daughter pilgrimage to the Kentucky race

This year, Dannielynn looked even more darling, if it could be possible, in an outfit paying homage to her mother’s home state of Texas.

Her headband featured the yellow rose, which is the emblem of the state.

“I see her mom in everything she does,” Larry Birkhead commented.

“We were at the Kentucky Derby and she started smiling and posing like her mom would. People ask me to put her in modelling, but I don’t want to push,” he told Us Weekly after last year’s event.

Larry Birkhead also explained how he told his daughter about his mother’s death: “At first I said, <<Your mommy’s up in the clouds>>. Then we were on a plane from Kentucky and she asked, <<Which cloud is my mom on, maybe she can come play?>>.”

Larry Birkhead is admirably protective of his daughter, and her late mother’s reputation.

He was livid about the Anna Nicole Smith opera which ran in London in late February and early March.

Larry Birkhead was furious with the Royal Opera House production’s exaggerated depiction of Anna Nicole Smith, and branded it “trash”.

He said he was particularly concerned about the effect of such material on Dannielynn.

“One day my daughter is going to see this trash,” Larry Birkhead said.

“These aren’t the images you want to relate to your child.”

Anna Nicole Smith was played by Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek.

Photos of the production show Eva-Maria Westbroek flaunting massive breasts and a blonde wig. One scene is said to depict Anna Nicole Smith performing a sex act on a character in a wheelchair.

“That lady is no Anna Nicole,” Larry Birkhead said of the soprano.