A California judge this weekend ordered the boy­friend and two doctors of former Playboy model and actress Anna Nicole Smith to stand trial on charges of fuelling her addiction to prescription drugs.

Smith, whose life as a fashion model, TV star and young wife of an elderly oil billionaire was fodder for tab­loids and celebrity mag­azines, died from a prescription drug overdose in February 2007 at age 39.

Her longtime boyfriend Howard K Stern is charged with 11 felony counts, including dispensing a controlled substance to an addict and obtaining a prescription for opiates by deceit.

Dr Khristine Eroshevich and Dr Sandeep Kapoor each face six felony counts, including unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance to an addict.

All three face charges of conspiracy to commit a crime. Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor have pleaded not guilty. Each faces more than five years in prison if convicted.

Smith died in Hollywood, Florida, shortly after the birth of her daughter and the death of her adult son, also from a drug overdose.

Friday's decision for the three to stand trial follows more than two weeks of often lurid testimony.