Miss winner proud of 'mixed France'

A FRANCO-Beninise student has beaten 33 other competitors to be crowned Miss France 2014 - and says she is "proud to represent a cosmopolitan France".

19-year-old Flora Coquerel, a student of international business, succeeds Marine Lorphelin in the annual televised competition, held this year in Dijon.

After a recent spate of racist incidents in France, notably targeting the justice minister Christiane Taubira, Coquerel used her winner's press conference to say her victory was evidence that France accepted different backgrounds.

"Today’s France is a mixed France, where there is every culture, and I think a lot of people will see themselves in me,” she said.

She said she hoped to use her title to promote literacy and the integration of women in the workplace.

The jury was this year headed by the French-Canadian singer Garou. Second place sent to Miss Tahiti, third to Miss Provence, fourth Miss Côte d'Azur and fifth Miss Guadeloupe.

Photo: PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP