LOCAL

Miss France 2008 keeps title despite racy photos but is barred from international pageants

Staff Writer

The Bulletin

Miss France 2008 Valerie Begue, of the Reunion islands, whose crown has been threatened since publication of suggestive photographs in a magazine, holds a press conference in Paris, Friday Dec. 28, 2007. Genevieve de Fontenay president of Committee Miss France agreed for the 2008 winner to keep her crown under certain conditions and not apply to international beauty contests as Miss World or Miss Universe.

Miss France 2008 will keep her crown, despite racy photos that appeared recently in a gossip magazine, but will not compete in the Miss World or Miss Universe pageants.

Valerie Begue, 22, will not be stripped of the title she won Dec. 8, but will not be allowed to take part in upcoming international competitions, Miss France organizers said Friday.

Begue described the outcome as “a compromise which satisfies all parties.”

Photos published in Entrevue magazine last week included one of a bikini-clad Begue lying on a cross in a swimming pool and another of her licking what appeared to be yogurt or evaporated milk.