Miss World 1974

Miss World 1974 was the 24th edition of the Miss World pageant,^[3] held on 22 November 1974 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom.^[4] The event was viewed by an estimated 30 million people,^[1] and was a "Wide World Special" on the ABC Television Network.^[4]

Helen Morgan of the United Kingdom was crowned the winner at the end of the event by Mrs. Julia Morley, becoming the second Welsh and fourth woman from the United Kingdom to win the title. Although it was known to the organizers at the time that she had a child as a single mother when she has crowned Miss Wales, due to intense pressure and media interest Morgan resigned four days later. The wife of the child's father had given many media interviews in the hours following the contest, creating extremely negative and lurid headlines. Morgan was the first Miss World titleholder to officially resign, and the second not to finish her reign as Miss World, after Marjorie Wallace in 1973.

Morgan had represented Wales in Miss Universe 1974 pageant earlier that year and placed first runner-up to eventual winner Amparo Muñoz of Spain. When Muñoz relinquished her Miss Universe title later that year, Morgan had already been outed as a mother and, therefore, ineligible to succeed Muñoz as Miss Universe. Muñoz was not replaced by any of the other runners-up.

Anneline Kriel of South Africa was crowned the new Miss World after Morgan's resignation. This was the second time that South Africa had won the title of Miss World.