Miss World 1971

Lúcia Tavares Petterle
BRAZIL

Lucia Petterle agreed to participate in the Miss Guanabara state pageant because she wanted to win car. She did, and she went on to compete for the Miss Brazil crown, and as first runner-up she left to London. The rest is history... After her victory, Lucia Petterle, upon the advice of the Brazilian Embassy in London, challenged the pageant organizers' control and percentage charge. In the end, unsure that she even wanted to exploit her role, she returned home to resume her medical studies and settled in Rio de Janeiro where she qualified as a doctor. The first runner-up, UK's Marilyn Ward, was a semi-finalist as Miss England in the Miss Universe pageant four months earlier. USA's Karen Brucene Smith (picture above), who ended in sixth place, had better success later when she won the Miss International title in 1974. Miss Portugal, Ana Paula de Almeida, is the best placed woman in a beauty pageant ever