Shields Weds for Real After Faking April Nuptials

May 31 -- If Brooke Shields ever wants to become a Secret Service agent, we'd say she's got all the sneaky skills required to make it to the top. The actress has apparently snowed every single media outlet that reported on her alleged April 4 wedding to TV writer-director Chris Henchy — which, as it turns out, never really happened at all.

According to gossip columnist Liz Smith, Shields and Henchy did not really wed until last weekend, when they had a Roman Catholic ceremony at a fancy Palm Beach, Calif., estate. But the pair, who even dressed in designer matrimonial duds and had their "wedding" photos splashed in several magazines, had previously swindled everyone with an early but fake ceremony.

The April gala, which was a so-called surprise affair on Catalina Island in Southern California, was staged to throw off paparazzi and Shields' stalker, Smith reports. The false wedding was elaborate, with mannequins and faux reception news fed to the unsuspecting press. Even Shields' rep, Lisa Kasteler, didn't really know what to say, first denying and then confirming the pair's marriage.

Mark Bailey, 41, has been charged with stalking Shields for nearly 15 years. The actress was apparently anxious to prevent Bailey, who has called her his "mail-order bride," from showing up on her special day.

Shields and Henchy met on the set of now-defunct sitcom Suddenly Susan. It's the second marriage for Shields, who had her vows to tennis star Andre Agassi annulled in 1999.

Shields (who turns 36 today) and Henchy, 38, were engaged during a Mexican resort vacation last July.