Miss World 1961


Miss World 1961 was the 11th Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom, on 9 November 1961. Thirty-seven candidates competed in that pageant. The winner was Rosemarie Frankland, representing the United Kingdom.

Selection of participants

Contestants from thirty-seven countries and territories were selected to participate in the competition. Two contestants were appointed to represent their countries/territories after being runners-up in their national competitions or were selected through a casting process.

Replacements

Miss France 1961, Luce Auger, was initially supposed to represent her country. However, she was dethroned due to already having a child. Auger was replaced by her first runner-up, Michèle Wargnier. Additionally, the third runner-up of Miss Holland 1961, Rita van Zuiden, was appointed to represent Holland because Miss Holland 1961, Anne Marie Brink, had already participated in another international beauty pageant, and one of the runners-up, Stanny van Baer, became Miss International 1961.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition marked the debut of the Republic of China and Suriname, and the return of Austria, Ceylon, New Zealand, and Venezuela. Ceylon last competed in 1955, New Zealand in 1956, Venezuela in 1958, and Austria in 1959. Australia, Burma, French Polynesia, Canada, Jordan, Kenya, Norway, and Tanganyika withdrew from the competition due to their national organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Chriss Leon of Jamaica was originally supposed to participate. However, her boyfriend did not allow her to go to participate. Leon would instead participate the next year, in which she made into the top 15.

Results

Competition

Format

Several changes were implemented in this edition. The number of semi-finalists was reduced to fifteen from eighteen in the previous edition. The fifteen semi-finalists were selected through a preliminary competition held on the day of the final event, which consisted of a swimsuit and evening gown competition. The fifteen semi-finalists were interviewed by Peter West, and from them, seven finalists were chosen to proceed to the final interview.

Selection Committee

Thirty-seven contestants competed for the title.
CountryContestantAgeHometown
ArgentinaSusana Pardal22Buenos Aires