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In the 66th edition of the world’s longest-running beauty pageant, Stephanie Del Valle from Puerto Rico was crowned the Miss World 2016. During wee hours of Monday morning, here in India, the Miss World pageant went under way at the MGM National Harbor in Washington, DC, US. With participation from over 100 countries, Miss Puerto Rico – who had a lot of crowd support from the beginning – walked away with the much-coveted crown.
Yaritza Miguelina Reyes Ramirez of the Dominican Republic and Miss World Indonesia Natasha Mannuela were runners-up. India’s Priyadarshini Chatterjee only made it to the top 20.
Miss World 2015 Mireia Lalaguna Royo crowned the 19-year-old Del Valle — the second Puerto Rican to hold the title after Wilnelia Merced won it in 1975. The winner was ecstatic as she sat down to be crowned. In India, the event was aired live on Zee Café.
The top five included Kenya, Indonesia, Dominican Republic and the Philippines. Miss India World, Chatterjee from Delhi, lost out on the title after making it as a quarterfinalist at the pageant, though she did feature in the top five of the Beauty With a Purpose title, which was eventually won by Miss Indonesia Mannuela.
The last time an Indian won the Miss World crown was Priyanka Chopra in 2000. Other Indians who won the title in the past include Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai (1994), Diana Hayden (1997) and Yukta Mookhey (1999).
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A Delhi-based girl from Guwahati, Priyadarshini was the first candidate from the northeastern region at the Miss World pageant. All of 20, she is a student of sociology. She was happy to “represent a civilisation as old as time itself, the land of myriad cultures, traditions, languages and religions” at the gala, she had said in her introduction video for the contest.
READ | Miss World India 2016 Priyadarshini Chatterjee: 5 lesser-known facts
This was the 66th edition of the gala, which put the contestants through a series of challenges and interviews to determine who will win the coveted title of Miss World 2016 and become the ambassador of the motto ‘Beauty with a Purpose’.
Puerto Rico is apparently the 17th country with multiple Miss World winners. At this year’s pageant, there were several other participants with Indian ancestry, such as Miss Japan Priyanka Yoshikawa, Miss Fiji Pooja Priyanka and Miss Singapore Bhaama Padmanathan.
The Miss World pageant, created in Britain by Eric Morley in 1951, is the oldest surviving major international beauty contest. It is one of the three most publicised beauty contests in the world, alongside the Miss Universe and Miss Earth contests.
https://twitter.com/MissWorldTime/status/810641744689700864
Who is your favourite Miss World of all time? Tell us in the comments below.
