39th Miss World 1989

In 1989, after 38 years of being staged in the UK, eighteen of which were in the Lyceum and twenty in the Royal Albert Hall, the Miss World contest was staged abroad for the first time, to publicise the opening of the New Convention Centre in Hong Kong by HRH the Prince of Wales.

The contestants travelled to Taiwan and Hong Kong with the actual transmission taking place in Hong Kong via ATV Television with earlier segments recorded in Taipei, Taiwan.

Message from C.E.O., Director of ATV and Chairman of H.K organizing committee Mrs Selina Chow: “We at ATV are proud and honoured to be the television company responsible for bringing such an illustrious event as the Miss World Contest to Hong Kong, especially when this is the first time ever that the well-established international Contest will be staged outside of the United Kingdom’s Royal Albert Hall. We are particularly pleased that we will be joining forces with experienced professionals who specially fly in for the occasion, to co-produce a truly memorable event.”

In 1989, a sell out charity dinner was organised by the Hong Kong Northwest Rotary Club. Half a million dollars was raised at the dinner. The proceeds were shared between the Hong Kong Kidney Fund and Variety Clubs Lifeline program.

One of the most wonderful memories of the 1989 contest was the children’s party. Julia Morley managed to persuade both the Army and the Chief of Police to allow 500 Vietnamese children from a camp to attend. The contestants were wonderful, many stayed up all night making decorations applicable to their own countries, so it had a really international atmosphere.

At the end of the glittering final, Poland's Aneta Kreglicka was crowned Miss World 1989. Aneta was quite taken aback when that special announcement was made, at first registering shock and surprise before a sense of joy overtook her. Aneta Kręglicka was the first Miss World from Poland, and she remained the country’s only winner for over 30 years until Karolina Bielawska was crowned the 70th Miss World in 2022.

In May 1989 at the Variety International Convention held in Australia, Julia Morley was invited to be the first woman to be elected a Vice President to serve on the Board of Variety, which had previously been a completely all-male board.

MISS WORLD - POLAND - Aneta KREGLICKA

Continental winners: