Angélique Angarni-Filopon was crowned Miss France 2025 after the rules were changed in 2022 to allow women aged over 24 to take part, along with married women and mothers.
The competition, which has run since 1920, previously viewed anyone over 24 as too old to be a symbol of female beauty.
Accepting the award, she said she was representing “Martinique, its diaspora as well as all the women who were once told that it was too late”, France24 said on its website.
She said she didn’t expect to win because “at each of the regional elections, I said to myself, ‘oh, yeah they [other competitors] are very beautiful’, and I saw victory moving away.
“I told myself that this experience would be great. But it was very very far, in my head, from telling myself that I was going to win,” Le Parisien quoted her as saying.
She posted video of her winning moment on her Instagram page, along with footage of herself being interviewed.
In another video posted by Paris Match magazine, she was filmed posing on a metro train in a gold dress and near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
She also uploaded a picture of the winner’s sash.
The 30 contestants in the final, held in the western city of Poitiers, included doctors and dentists, France24 said on its website, adding that the women posed in swimsuits, regional costumes, and ballgowns.
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They performed to a host of musical styles, including country, 90s, salsa and Mozart in the contest, televised by TFI.
As winner, Angarni-Filopon will receive up to €60,000 (£50,000) over the next year, according to The Times, as well as the use of a Paris flat near the Arc de Triomphe, and various gifts from sponsors.
The France contest comes just days after the Miss Netherlands pageant was scrapped after 35 years.
Organisers said they were “changing with the times” and will instead run a platform to share stories of successful women and those struggling with issues such as unrealistic beauty standards.
