Veronica Ann Cross (born 1950) is a British singer, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She is daughter of a

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

opera singer, won the Miss United Kingdom beauty pageant in 1973. At 16 years old, upon leaving school, Cross successfully applied for a job as a photographic model with an agency in London. Soon she was to accept opportunities for television adverts and bit-parts. In December 1972 she entered a Miss England heat in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, which she failed to win. She tried for another heat in London in February and qualified for the final of the Miss England competition and also qualified her to enter the Miss UK pageant. At 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, Miss Int ...

competition, she managed to come sixth.

Life after the pageant

Cross now lives in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

and works as a show house demonstrator. She takes part in opera singing with a company called Pocket Opera. She is unmarried.

Personal quotes

I'd spent a month preparing for that by starving myself. I was 8st 5lbs. When I look at pictures I wince at the sight of the jutting collarbone. I can see I looked too thin, but at the time I was delighted by my protruding bones and concave stomach.

Eating so little wasn't good for my health. For six months my periods packed up completely, a sure sign of starvation.

pera singing hasbecome the love of my life—I don't have deep regrets about not marrying or having children, but I do regret that I never trained as an opera singer like my mother. If I could trade my title for the chance to work as a professional opera singer I'd do it like a shot.

References

1950 births English female models Living people Miss United Kingdom winners Miss Universe 1973 contestants Miss World 1973 delegates 20th-century English women 20th-century English people {{England-bio-stub