Helen Elizabeth Morgan (born 29 September 1952) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

actress, model, TV Host and beauty queen who won the 1974

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. ...

Miss United Kingdom Miss United Kingdom is a title held by the highest-ranked contestant from the UK in the Miss World pageant. The winner sometimes competes at Miss International the following year under the ''Britain'' or ''United Kingdom'' banner. From 1958 ...

and

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, Miss Int ...

pageant Pageant may refer to: * Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume * Beauty pageant, or beauty contest * Latter Day Saint plays and pageants, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or by members local to the area of the pageant * ...

s. Morgan became the first winner to resign, and the second (after

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

) not to finish her reign as Miss World.

Biography

Born in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England she worked in a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

. Entering modelling competitions on a part-time basis, she won the

(representing

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

in the competition for that titile) and

titles in 1974.

Miss Universe 1974

Morgan represented Wales in the

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

pageant, where she finished first runner-up to

Amparo Muñoz Amparo Muñoz Quesada (Vélez-Málaga, 21 June 1954 – Málaga, 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 titleholder in ...

of Spain. When Muñoz resigned as Miss Universe before the end of her reign, the crown was not offered to Morgan or any other runner-up.

Miss World 1974

Winning Miss United Kingdom earned Morgan the right to represent the United Kingdom in

. She had originally been reluctant to enter the Miss Wales competition, and was eventually paid £30 as a last-minute stand-in when another competitor dropped out. Morgan became the second Welsh woman and the fourth UK representative to win the competition in 1974. However, she was forced to resign only four days after winning the pageant, upon the media creating extremely negative and lurid headlines as she was an unwed mother with an 18-month-old son. This had never been hidden from the time she was crowned Miss Wales, but the lurid headlines in the hours immediately following her win at Miss World, particularly interviews given by the wife of the child's father, created extreme pressure on Morgan and the Miss World organization. Although this did not violate any of the competition rules (which stipulated only that entrants must be unmarried), pressure was placed on her by the Miss World Organisation that she should resign to save them from further potential embarrassment. The first runner-up,

Anneline Kriel Anneline Kriel (born 28 July 1955) is a South African actress, model, and beauty queen. She won Miss South Africa and Miss World in 1974 after the UK's Helen Morgan resigned only four days after her victory. Kriel is the second South African w ...

of South Africa, succeeded her. Morgan became the first winner to resign, and the second Miss World titleholder not to finish her reign. The first case was that of

Miss World 1973 Miss World 1973, the 23rd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 23 November 1973 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom. 54 delegates vied for the crown won by Marjorie Wallace of United States. She was crowned by Belinda G ...

, who, according to pageant officials, was stripped of the crown for "failing to fulfill the basic requirements of the job" a few months into her reign.

After Miss World

Threatened with being a named party in a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

– an action which was later dropped – Morgan was allowed to keep her other titles. She resigned from the bank, and undertook a career in modelling, TV and films.

After modelling

Morgan married and moved to

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in the 1980s, and had two more children, Poppy and Ben. She later left the UK, and now lives in Spain with her husband Ronny Lamb and family. In 2004, Morgan agreed to judge the 2004 Miss Wales competition in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, the 30th anniversary of her competition win, won by

Amy Guy Amy Guy (born 21 December 1983) is a Welsh beauty queen, television performer and athlete. She attended Yale College, Wrexham and secondary school at Ysgol Rhiwabon, Wrexham, Wales, and was the Welsh Schools National 100m and 300m Hurdling Cha ...

References

External links

Helen Morgan
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Helen 1952 births Beauty pageant controversies Living people Miss United Kingdom winners Miss Universe 1974 contestants Miss World 1974 delegates Miss World winners People from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan Welsh beauty pageant winners Welsh female models People from Walsall