,
Miss World 2011 at a school in
Mumbai, India The Miss World Organization owns and manages the annual Miss World Finals, a competition that has grown into one of the world's biggest. Since its launch in 1951, the Miss World organisation has raised more than £1 billion for children's charities that help disabled and underprivileged children. Miss World is
franchised in more than 100 countries.
1970s–1990s The Miss World pageant has been the target of many controversies since its inception. • In
1970, feminist protesters threw flour bombs during the live event at London's
Royal Albert Hall, momentarily alarming the host,
Bob Hope. • The
1973 winner,
Marjorie Wallace, was stripped of her title on 8 March 1974 because she had failed to fulfill the basic requirements of the job. Miss World's organizers did not elect someone to serve in her place. • In
1976, several countries boycotted the pageant because it included both a
white and a
black contestant from South Africa. • The
1980 winner,
Gabriella Brum of Germany, resigned one day after winning. A few days later it emerged that she had been forced to resign after it was discovered that she had posed naked for a magazine.
Nigeria 2002 In the year leading up the finals in Nigeria, several European title holders lobbied their governments and the EU parliament to support
Amina Lawal's cause. A number of contestants followed the lead of
Kathrine Sørland of Norway in boycotting the contest (despite the controversy, Sørland became a semi-finalist in both the Miss World and Miss Universe contests), while others, such as Costa Rica, were instructed by their national governments and parliaments not to attend. Among the other boycotting nations were Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Panama, Belgium and Kenya. Lawal asked that contestants not suspend their participation in the contest, saying that it was for the good of her country and that they could, as the representative of Sweden had earlier remarked, make a much stronger case for her on the ground in Nigeria. Despite the increasing international profile the boycott was garnering in the world press, the contest proceeded in Nigeria after being rescheduled to avoid taking place during Ramadan, with many prominent nations sending delegates. Osmel Sousa of Venezuela, one of the world's most influential national directors, said, "there is no question about it [the participation of Miss Venezuela in the contest]." But the trouble did not end there. A
ThisDay (
Lagos, Nigeria) newspaper editorial suggesting that
Muhammad would probably have chosen one of his wives from among the contestants had he been alive to see it resulted in inter-religious riots that started on 22 November in which over 200 people were killed in the city of
Kaduna and many houses of worship were burned by religious zealots. Because of these riots, the 2002 pageant was moved to London, following widely circulated reports that Canada's and Korea's representatives had withdrawn from the contest and returned to their respective countries out of safety concerns. A
fatwa urging the beheading of the woman who wrote the offending words,
Isioma Daniel, was issued in Nigeria, but was declared null and void by the relevant Saudi Arabian authorities. Upon the pageant's return to Britain, many of the boycotting contestants chose to attend, including Miss Norway, Kathrine Sørland, who was ironically tipped in the last few days as the favourite for the crown she had previously boycotted. The eventual winner of the pageant was
Azra Akın of Turkey.
Indonesia 2013 In Miss World 2013, protests by Islamic groups began a few weeks before the contest began, resulting in the pageant's finale and all pre-pageant activities being isolated to Hindu-majority
Bali.
China 2015 Anastasia Lin,
Miss World Canada, was not given a visa to travel in China and hence missed the official deadline of 20 November 2015 for entry to the 2015 pageant, and was declared
persona non grata by the
Chinese Embassy in Ottawa for openly criticizing
China's human rights violations. The Miss World Organization later allowed her to compete at Miss World 2016.
Thailand 2020 and cancellation After the 2019 pageant, the organization chose Thailand as the host country of Miss World 2020, to be held in
Phuket. But due to the spread of
COVID-19, most national organizations and the Miss World organization agreed to cancel the 2020 pageant to assure the delegates' safety.
Puerto Rico 2021 and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic The edition was originally scheduled for the end of 2020 but postponed indefinitely due to the global
COVID-19 pandemic. On 8 March 2021, the date was set for 16 December 2021. The threat of the
Omicron variant had already been detected in some parts of the world during the pre-pageant activities, as the disease started swept across the island. On 14 December,
Miss World Indonesia Carla Yules tested positive for COVID-19. As a precaution, her roommate
Miss World India Manasa Varanasi and five others were classified as suspected cases. Miss World Organization chair
Julia Morley confirmed that the delegates were isolated and quarantined and would not be onstage for the final show if they did not produce a negative PCR test. On 15 December, the
Puerto Rico Department of Health confirmed 17 positive cases for COVID-19 related to the Miss World pageant activities, including contestants and technical personnel. On 16 December, it was announced that
Miss World Malaysia Lavanya Sivaji had tested positive for COVID-19. During a 16 December Puerto Rico Department of Health press conference, epidemiologist
Melissa Marzán confirmed 15 staff and 23 contestant positive cases associated with Miss World. She added that pageant organizers, not the island's authorities, decided to postpone. The rescheduled 70th Miss World pageant took place on 16 March 2022, at
Puerto Rico's
Coca-Cola Music Hall. == Recent titleholders ==