Mrs. Universe is an annual international event for "the most honorable married woman". The event is open to married, divorced, and widowed women from nations on all continents around the world, who are between the ages of 18 and 55, have a family and career, and are involved in a "significant cause". It is based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The organizer, Mrs. Universe Ltd., also organizes the Mrs. Europe, Grandma Universe, and Children of the Universe pageants. The current and reigning queen and titleholder, Mrs. Universe 2022, is Elena Maksimova from Russia.

Titleholders

The organization called 2022 their 45th year on all promotional materials, though public recording of winners goes back to 2007. The following is the list of known winners of this event.

Countries by number of title wins

Controversies

Comparison with
Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Str ...

The Mrs. Universe organization was sued in 2010 by the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Str ...

organization for an alleged breach of trademark. The Mrs. pageant countered that "Universe" is a generic word, and pointed out that the Mrs. pageant is exclusively for married women while the Miss pageant is for unmarried women. The Mrs. organization opined that the lawsuit was part of a conspiracy by human traffickers to stop the pageant, because Mrs. Universe held an awareness campaign about human trafficking. Five years after, the

organization again threatened legal action against Mrs. Universe for breach of trademark. This came on the tails of comments made by the first Indigenous woman to ever win a Universe title,

Ashley Callingbull-Burnham Ashley Callingbull (born October 21, 1989) is a Canadian model, actress, and television personality. She became the first Canadian and Indigenous woman to win the Mrs. Universe title on 29 August 2015. She and her stepfather participated in the ...

, when she criticized the Canadian government's lack of support of

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

people. The Mrs. Universe pageant has continued to run despite this controversy, arguing that it is a pageant for married, divorced, and widowed women while the Miss Universe pageant is restricted to women who have never been married. Beginning in 2023, however, the Miss Universe Organization will allow

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...

women to compete in the pageant. Accepting married contestants reinvigorates tension between the American-based Miss Universe pageant and the European-based Mrs. Universe pageant, which was previously the only avenue for married women to compete for the Universe title. However, distinction between the two pageants still exists, where Mrs. Universe allows contestants up to 55 years of age, while Miss Universe remains restricted to women under 28 even if they are married.

References

External links

* * 2007 establishments in Bulgaria Organizations based in Sofia Recurring events established in 2007 Beauty pageants for married contestants International beauty pageants {{pageant-stub