Former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith was laid to rest Friday with all the pomp and circumstance of a royal funeral, but litigation surrounding a multi-million-dollar inheritance and the paternity of her baby daughter remain very much alive.

Custody battle over Anna Nicole Smith's 5 month old daughter, Dannielyn

The principals waging a three-way custody battle over 5-month-old Dannielynn -- Smith's companion Howard K. Stern, her mother Virgie Arthur and former boyfriend Larry Birkhead -- walked into the white-columned church, and for at least a moment their bickering was put aside for the lavish closed-casket service.

Smith was then taken to her final resting place in a mahogany coffin draped in a rhinestone-studded pink blanket as police, smartly dressed in white belted tunics and pith helmets, maintained order. Onlookers, mostly Bahamians, spontaneously broke out into the hymn "When Peace Like a River" as the white hearse carrying the 39-year-old blonde bombshell and the rest of the funeral cortege arrived at Lakeview Memorial Gardens.

In a last-minute bid to halt the burial, Arthur sought to have Supreme Court Justice Anita Adams grant her client custody of Smith's body, but the Bahamian judge denied it, according to Lilliemae MacDonald, the justice's secretary. That cleared the way for Smith to be buried next to her 20-year-old son Daniel, who died of apparent drug use in September.

Anna Nicole Smith's mother booed at the funeral

When the onlookers saw Arthur arrive at the cemetery, they booed. They cheered when Birkhead stepped out of his limo. The guests disappeared under a green tent that covered the gravesite amid tight security. Smith was being buried in a tiara and custom-made, beaded gown, said organizer Patrik Simpson of Beverly Hills, Calif.

"Her soul is at rest now. I am satisfied," said Tanisha Grant, a local restaurant owner who was friends with Smith. For the funeral, Grant wore a short black cocktail dress that Smith had given her a few months ago, telling Grant it no longer fit her.

Security was tight at Anna Nicole Smith funeral

Some tourists were amazed at all the security and media.

"She's got a presidential kind of media frenzy going on," said Christie Rathgaber, a 59-year-old nurse from Columbus, Ohio who happened by the Mount Horeb Baptist Church, where services were held.

"I'm just incredulous at all the fuss," she added. "She was not a world figure. She was not a queen. She was not a president. She was not anything ... It's just way over the top."

Hundreds of islanders and tourists crowded behind steel barricades outside the church. Rock guitarist Slash, formerly of Guns N' Roses, was spotted going inside.

"Today we share our grief with all of you," said Richard Milstein, the court-appointed advocate for Dannielynn. "Today we come to you to carry out the final, most sacred, solemn act provided to any individual."

Less than 100 attend funeral for Anna Nicole Smith, 300 invited

There appeared to be fewer than 100 guests overall at the church service, which was closed to all media but Entertainment Tonight. An organizer said about 300 had been invited to the private ceremony.