Moments later, the 2019 winner seized Mrs De Silva's crown, claiming she could not be awarded the title because she was divorced. The prize has now been returned to Mrs De Silva, after pageant organisers confirmed she is not a divorcee.
Judges named Ms De Silva the 2021 winner at the Mrs Sri Lanka final in a theatre in Colombo on Sunday night. But the 2019 winner, Caroline Jurie, stripped Mrs De Silva of her crown, citing a pageant rule that competitors must be married and not divorced.
"There is a rule that prevents women who have already been married and are divorced, so I am taking steps to make the crown go to second place," Mrs Jurie told the audience. She placed the crown on the runner-up, prompting a tearful Mrs De Silva to walk off stage, a video of the incident showed. READ MORE
