Miss World 1974 was the 24th edition of the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

pageant, held on 22 November 1974 at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom.''The Times-News''
/ref> The event was viewed by an estimated 30 million people, and was a "Wide World Special" on the

ABC Television Network The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. ABC is headquartered on Riverside ...

. Helen Morgan of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

was crowned the winner at the end of the event by Mrs.

Julia Morley Julia Evelyn Morley (née Pritchard; born 25 October 1939) is an English businesswoman, charity worker and former model. She is the chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, which organizes the Miss World and Mister World pageants. She ...

, becoming the second Welsh and fourth woman from the United Kingdom to win the title. Although it was known to the organizers at the time that she had a child as a single mother when she has crowned

Miss Wales Miss Wales is a national beauty pageant in Wales. Rules Miss Wales is open to unmarried women from age 16 to age 24, and is organized by Vibe Models. Contestants must not have had children, must be British citizens and must reside in Wales. ...

, due to intense pressure and media interest Morgan resigned four days later. The wife of the child's father had given many media interviews in the hours following the contest, creating extremely negative and lurid headlines. Morgan was the first Miss World titleholder to officially resign, and the second not to finish her reign as Miss World, after

Marjorie Wallace Marjorie Wallace (born January 23, 1954) is an American actress, television host, model and beauty queen. In Miss World 1973, 1973, she made history as the first woman from the United States to be crowned Miss World, but just 104 days later, pa ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. Morgan had represented Wales in

Miss Universe 1974 Miss Universe 1974 was the 23rd Miss Universe pageant, held on 21 July 1974 at the Folk Arts Theater in Pasay City, Philippines. It was the first Miss Universe pageant to ever be held in the Philippines, and in extension, Asia. Margarita Moran ...

pageant earlier that year and placed first runner-up to eventual winner

Amparo Muñoz Maria de Amparo Muñoz y Quesada (21 June 1954 – 27 February 2011) was a Spanish actress, model and beauty queen who won the Miss Universe 1974 competition in Manila, Philippines, being the first and only Spaniard Miss Universe titleholder to ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. When Muñoz relinquished her Miss Universe title later that year, Morgan had already been outed as a mother and, therefore, ineligible to succeed Muñoz as Miss Universe. Muñoz was not replaced by any of the other runners-up.

Anneline Kriel Anneline Kriel (born 28 July 1955) is a South African actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss South Africa 1974 and was later crowned Miss World 1974. She is the second of three South African women to hold the Miss World titl ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

was crowned the new Miss World after Morgan's resignation. This was the second time that South Africa had won the title of Miss World.

Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals

This edition marked the debut of Barbados, Guernsey, Jersey and Zambia and the return of Madagascar, which last competed in

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

, Denmark last competed in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, Nicaragua and Tunisia last competed in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, and Costa Rica, Ecuador, India and Western Germany last competed in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. Cyprus, Iceland, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Peru, Portugal and Seychelles, withdrew from the competition for unknown reasons. Miss Turkey 1974, Melek Ayberk withdrew from the competition for unknown reasons.

Results

Placements

Contestants

* – Sara Barberi * – Esther Angeli Luisa Marugg * – Gail Margaret Petith * – Eveline Engleder * – Monique Betty Cooper * – Linda Yvonne Field * – Anne-Marie Sophie Sikorski * – Joyce Ann de Rosa * – Rosemary Moleti * – Mariza Sommer * – Sandra Margaret Emily Campbell * – Luz María Osorio Fernández * – Rose Marie Leprade Coto * – Jane Moller * – Giselle Scanlon Grullón * – Silvia Aurora Jurado Estrada * – Merja Talvikki Ekman * – Edna Tepava * – Patricia Orfila * – Evgenia Dafni * – Rosemary Pablo Laguna * – Gina Elizabeth Ann Atkinson * – Gerarda Sophia Balm * – Leslie Suez Ramírez * – Judy Denise Anita Dirkin * – Kiran Dholakia * – Julie Ann Farnham * – Lea Klain * – Zaira Zoccheddu * – Andrea Lyon * – Chikako Shima * – Christine Marjorie Sangan * – Gisèle Hachem * – Raobelina Harisoa * – Shirley Tan * – Mary Louis Elull * – Guadalupe del Carmen Elorriaga Valdés * – Sue Nicholson * – Francis Duarte de León Tapia * – Torill Mariann Larsen * – Agnes Benisano Rustia * – Loyda Eunice Valle Blas Machado * – Valerie Oh Choon Lian * –

* – Evelyn Peggy Williams * – Shim Kyoung-sook * – Natividad Rodríguez Fuentes * – Vinodini Roshanara Jayskera * – Jill Lindqvist * – Astrid Maria Angst * – Orn-Jir Chaisatra * – Zohra Kehlifi * –

Helen Elizabeth Morgan Helen Elizabeth Morgan (born 29 September 1952) is a British people, British actress, model, tv Host and beauty queen who won the 1974 Miss Wales, Miss United Kingdom and Miss World Beauty contest, pageants. Morgan became the first winner to re ...

* – Terry Ann Browning * – Alicia Rivas Serrano * – Sabrina Erlmeier * – Jadranka Banjac * – Christine Munkombwe

Notes

References

{{Miss World 1974 delegates Miss World 1974 in London 1974 beauty pageants Beauty pageants in England Events at the Royal Albert Hall November 1974 in the United Kingdom