Nassau- Anna Nicole Smith married her long-time attorney and close confidante, Howard K. Stern, Thursday morning just shortly before 10:30 am in Nassau, Bahamas. The wedding occurred only 18 days after the death of Anna’s son Daniel, 20, from an accidental drug overdose in her Nassau hospital room on September 10.

In a world-exclusive report, an eyewitness tells Star that Anna, 38, and Howard, 37, tied the knot shortly before 10:30 am on the morning of September 28, while sailing on a white catamaran off of Nassau.

“There was heavy security around the yacht, plus extra speedboats to deliver more supplies as needed (including unlimited Dom Perignon champagne) from the mainland to the catamaran,” says the eyewitness, who adds that the wedding party celebrated the union afterwards by having a swim party around the yacht – “and Anna was wearing a pink bikini. Later on, she changed into a colorful, one-piece suit with a wrap around her waist.”

Two days before, on September 26, Stern appeared live on the Larry King Show via satellite from the Bahamas, to announce that he was the father of Anna’s newborn daughter Danilynne Hope, that he and Anna “love each other” – and that the duo would get married “at some point.”

Apparently, that point arrived much sooner than later. A source adds: “Stern was making all the arrangements in the days before the wedding.”

This is apparently Stern’s first marriage, but the third for Smith. She was a teen bride with Billy Wayne Smith (Daniel’s father) in Texas in 1985; they divorced two years later. Smith then married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall in June 1994. He died in 1995, and Anna – who recently became a legal resident of the Bahamas – is still battling in court for her share of his estate.