Miss World 1974

Miss World 1974, the 24th edition of the Miss World pageant,[3] was held on 22 November 1974 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom.[4] The event was viewed by an estimated 30 million people,[1] and was a "Wide World Special" on the ABC Television Network.[4]

Miss World 1974
Date	22 November 1974
Presenters	Michael Aspel David Vine†
Venue	Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
Broadcaster	BBC
Entrants	58
Placements	15
Debuts	Barbados Guernsey Jersey Zambia
Withdrawals	Cyprus Iceland Luxembourg Mauritius Peru Portugal Seychelles Turkey
Returns	Costa Rica Denmark Ecuador Germany India Madagascar Nicaragua Tunisia
Winner	Helen Morgan[1]  United Kingdom (resigned) Anneline Kriel[2]  South Africa (successor)

Helen Morgan of the United Kingdom was crowned the winner at the end of the event by Mrs. Julia Morley, 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, 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 in 1973.

Morgan had represented Wales in Miss Universe 1974 pageant earlier that year and placed first runner-up to eventual winner Amparo Muñoz of Spain. 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 of South Africa was crowned the new Miss World after Morgan's resignation. This is the Second time that South Africa had won the title of Miss World.