In Pasadena, Anna Nicole was queen for a day

This from Star-News reporter Janette Williams:

The death of Anna Nicole Smith prompted a call from Rose Tree Cottage owner Edmund Fry. He recalled the late starlet’s visit last year to the tearoom, a temple to all thing British on California Boulevard. An autographed photo immortalizing the event is on show with the Duchess of Devonshire, Adam Ant, Prince Andrew, the King of Rwanda, Margaret Thatcher and other luminaries who’ve sipped tea and nibbled scones there.

Edmund was so taken, he invited her to be his guest at The Queen’s Ball last June at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena — an annual Anglophile bash celebrating Her Majesty’s birthday.

“We danced the night away," Edmund remembered, adding that she was charming and lovely — not drunk, drugged, or “off-the-wall" in any way.

Of course, he said, that was before “all the other stuff."

If only she’d stuck to tea.