Miss World 2016: India's Priyadarshini Chatterjee is in top-20; Miss Puerto Rico wins the crown

Stephanie del Valle of Puerto Rico was crowned Miss World 2016 on Sunday, edging out runners-up from the Dominican Republic and Indonesia, and beauties from around the globe. India’s Priyadarshini Chatterjee only made it to the top 20. Del Valle, 19, is a brown-eyed brunette student who speaks Spanish, English and French, and hopes to get into the entertainment industry. Crowned by Miss World 2015 Mireia Lalaguna of Spain, del Valle called it an “honour and a great responsibility” to represent her Caribbean homeland. [caption id=“attachment_3162940” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Winner of Miss World Miss Puerto Rico Stephanie Del Valle with first runner up Miss Dominican Republic Yaritza Miguelina Reyes Ramirez and second runner up Miss Indonesia Natasha Mannuela. Reuters[/caption] First runner-up was Yaritza Miguelina Reyes Ramirez of the Dominican Republic, followed by Miss World Indonesia Natasha Mannuela. Contestants from Kenya and Catriona Gray of the Philippines also were in the final five. Indian contestant Priyadarshini lost out on the title after making it to the top 20 at the pageant. She featured in the top five contestants for the Beauty With a Purpose title, which was eventually won by Miss Indonesia. [caption id=“attachment_3162946” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Miss India Priyadarshini Chatterjee participates in the Miss World 2016. Reuters[/caption] The last time an Indian won the Miss World crown was Priyanka Chopra in 2000. Other Indians who won the title in the past include Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai (1994), Diana Hayden (1997) and Yukta Mookhey (1999). A Delhi-based girl from Guwahati, Priyadarshini was the first candidate from the northeastern region at the Miss World pageant. All of 20, she is a student of sociology. She was happy to “represent a civilisation as old as time itself, the land of myriad cultures, traditions, languages and religions” at the gala, she had said in her introduction video for the contest. Meanwhile, Canada’s Miss World representative, Chinese-born Anastasia Lin was embroiled in a controversy when pageant officials reportedly warned her against speaking to the press for three weeks about human rights abuses in China. She was given the green light again on Wednesday. Last year, China blocked Lin from attending the same contest when it was held in the city of Sanya. This was the 66th edition of the gala, which put the contestants through a series of challenges and interviews to determine who will win the coveted title and become the ambassador of the motto ‘Beauty with a purpose’. The Miss World pageant, created in Britain by Eric Morley in 1951, is the oldest surviving major international beauty contest. It is one of the three most publicised beauty contests in the world, alongside the Miss Universe and Miss Earth contests. With inputs from agencies