Miss Universe part-owners Anne Jakrajutatip (left) and Raul Rocha (right) with reigning queen Sheynnis Palacios/ANNE JAKRAJUTATIP FACEBOOK PHOTO
With just two weeks before she relinquishes her title, reigning Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios received a heartfelt tribute from the pageant’s part-owner Anne Jakrajutatip.
“You are always the inspiration to many young women and aspiration to people across all kind of generation who wants to pursue the ultimate dream of being successful, iconic and beautifully confident,” the Thai media mogul said of the queen in a social media post on Monday, Nov. 4.
Palacios is not only the first Miss Universe winner from Nicaragua; she is also the first titleholder produced in the international competition that was entirely under Jakrajutatip’s watch.
When the Thai business magnate acquired the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) in the last quarter of 2022, several measures related to the staging of the 71st edition have gone underway, and different countries have already concluded their respective searches.
The 72nd edition held in El Salvador last year, where Palacios won, was the first Miss Universe competition where Jakrajutatip had been involved from start to finish.
“In two weeks, we will crown the titleholder of Miss Universe 2024 in Mexico City. [star emoji] We will always love you and miss you, my dear [Palacios][kiss emoji],” Jakrajuatip said.
“You are the complete package of wonder woman with the humble background who made it to the top [three clapping emojis] You will always be our #missuniverse and the people’s queen. LOVE [red heart emoji],” she continued.
Palacios has had a bittersweet victory, whose triumph for Nicaragua brought her both pride and grief. Because of the incumbent’s alleged fascist regime, the queen still has not had a homecoming in her country.
The Ortega administration had accused Palacios’ national pageant organization of sympathizing with the opposition, and viewed her victory as a tool to further discredit the government.
Palacios earned her mass communication degree from the Central American University in Managua, a Catholic educational institution that was at the center of protests against the regime in 2018. Several prelates were jailed by the government amid the demonstrations.
The administration of President Ortega also banned the former Miss Universe national director for Nicaragua, Karen Celebertti, from returning to the country. She had already given up the franchise, and a new licensee sent this year’s Nicaraguan delegate.
As for Palacios, it is still not clear whether she will finally return to Nicaragua at the end of her reign. MUO will organize a “Farewell Afternoon Tea” on Nov. 15 to formally bid adieu to the reigning queen. This is the first such event for the organization.
Palacios will relinquish her title to her successor at the coronation show at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on Nov. 16 (Nov. 17 in Manila). More than 120 delegates from countries and territories around the world are competing for the crown, including Chelsea Manalo from the Philippines, and part-Filipino delegates Victoria Velasquez Vincent from New Zealand, Christina Chalk from Great Britain, and Shereen Ahmad from Bahrain.