Bindi Irwin, whose father Steve died at the age of eight, posted on her Instagram page a piece of artwork showing her father present at her wedding earlier this year.
Popular Australian zookeeper and television personality Steve was killed in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef on September 4, 2006, aged just 44 when he was stabbed in the chest by a stingray barb while filming.
The painting shows Bindi standing next to her husband Chandler Powell in her wedding dress, with Steve standing on the other side. The artwork also includes Steve’s widow and Bindi ‘s mother Terri and her brother Robert, as do their two dogs.
The piece was created by the digital artist Debb Oliver who met in person with the family to give it to them. This obviously serves as a beautiful memento of what Bindi and her family had been a very special day.
On 25 March at the Australia Zoo, which was opened by Steve Irwin’s parents in 1970, Bindi and Chandler tied the knot, and which Steve late took over. While the coronavirus pandemic has ruined the plans of the family, their special day has not been disrupted in any way.
“We held a small ceremony and I married my best friend,” wrote Bindi on Instagram at the time, captioning a photo of her and Chandler sharing a kiss. “There are no words to describe the amount of love and light in my heart right now.