Who organized the first miss world contest?
The first Miss WORLD CONTEST was organized in 1951 by Eric Morley, Publicity Officer of Mecca Ltd, in response to a request by his management to devise an event of international interest to coincide with the Festival of Britain celebrations. For the initial contest, held at the Lyceum Ballroom off the Strand on 19 April, there were 30 contestants, but only 5 from overseas countries. An original feature of the competition was that all the girls paraded in bikinis (q.v.)—a type of swimwear new to Britain at that date. The winner of the title and the £ 1,000 prize that accompanied it was Miss Sweden, 21-year-old Kiki Haakonson, daughter of a Stockholm policeman.
