Photos: Dishonest beauty queen runs off with crown, breast implants

UPDATE

News: Beauty queen who ran off with tiara refuses to hand it back until organisers apologise for calling her a 'thief'

A dethroned Burmese beauty queen has refused to return her $100,000 jewelled tiara until organisers of the pageant apologise for calling her 'a liar and a thief'.

May Myat Noe allegedly disappeared with the tiara after she was dethroned as the 2014 Miss Asia Pacific World winner for 'being rude'.

But at a press conference today the 18-year-old insisted she had done nothing wrong and denied accepting breast implants free of charge, as claimed by David Kim, the director of media for the South Korea-based pageant.

Mr Kim had said organisers wanted her to have breast enhancement surgery before they could get her a record deal.

He had said the teenager was stripped of her title because she was dishonest and unappreciative - and because she ran off with her bejewelled tiara. 

Miss Noe however has said that she boarded a plane for Burma without realising she had been dethroned.

Mr Kim had said Miss Noe had been a disappointment from the outset.

Following her victory, the organisers and sponsors wanted the 5ft 7in pageant winner to change her looks so she could become a singer.

Mr Kim said: 'We thought she should be more beautiful ... so as soon as she arrived we sent her to the hospital to operate on her breasts.'

Adding that the competition's sponsors paid £6,000 for her breast enhancement, Mr Kim said: 'It's our responsibility.

'If she has no good nose, then maybe, if she likes, we can operate on her nose. If it's breasts, then breasts.'

The pageant organisers had said they also paid for a 10-day trip for her and her mother to Seoul, South Korea, but that quickly turned into three months, incurring extra cost.

She 'lied' and 'never had respect for the main organisation, the national director, the manager, media or fans who made her the winner,' organisers said in a statement. 

Miss Noe was given a flight back to Burmese capital Rangoon, but did not show up, with Malaysian news sites reporting that she got on an earlier plane.

The pageant organisers have been demanding she hand back the jewel-encrusted Swarovski tiara - worth between £60,000 and £120,000.

Mr Kim said: 'Everyone knows she is no longer the queen, but she thinks as long as she keeps this crown she's the winner. She's not.' 

Her picture has been taken down off the competition's website and it says 'dethroned' next to her name.  

Hla Nu Tun, who initially acted as her unofficial manager, has said Miss Noe and the organisers had disagreed over who should oversee her career. Miss Noe's mother wanted control but so did the organisers, she said. 

Burma, which only recently emerged from a half-century military rule and self-imposed isolation, started sending contestants to international beauty pageants for the first time in decades in 2012. 

British model Amy Willerton took part in Miss Asia Pacific in 2011, but left the competition early, labelling it 'a shambles'.  

 


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The first Myanmar national to win an international pageant has been stripped of her title for being rude and dishonest, and has allegedly run off with the expensive crown and breast implants.

Her picture was blacked out on the organization's website and replaced with the word "dethroned".

Myanmar, which only recently emerged from a half-century of military rule, started participating in international beauty pageants again in 2012.

Two years later, May Myat Noe was crowned Miss Asia Pacific World.

David Kim, director of media for the Seoul-based pageant, said Friday the 18-year-old was informed of the decision to retract the title earlier this week.

He says she has since absconded with the $100,000 bejeweled tiara and $10,000 breast implants, paid for by the pageant's sponsors.