Sto­ry and Pho­tos

by Rishi Ra­goonath

Na­tal­ie Fran­cis, of Clax­ton Bay, has been crowned Mrs Globe T&T and will rep­re­sent this coun­try at the in­ter­na­tion­al pageant in Shen­zhen, Chi­na, from April 4 to 13, 2025. She was one of eight con­tes­tants vy­ing for the ti­tle at Na­pari­ma Bowl, San Fer­nan­do, last Sat­ur­day night.

In a brief in­ter­view, Fran­cis said, “In my younger days, I en­tered pageants and held the ti­tles of Mrs Cen­tral Car­ni­val Queen 2024 and Mrs El­e­gant Mom 2012.

“I was mo­ti­vat­ed by the fact that this pageant has a pur­pose and is not just about beau­ty or win­ning a crown. It is al­so about self-de­vel­op­ment for women.”’

Fran­cis is al­ready in­volved in women’s em­pow­er­ment through My Sis­ter’s Keep­er, a group that helps women heal, re­dis­cov­er their strength, and re­alise they can be bea­cons of hope for oth­ers.

“Some­times, we as women feel we are lim­it­ed to the role of wife and moth­er. We are much more than that, and we can con­tribute much more than that to so­ci­ety. I feel ec­sta­t­ic. I was not ex­pect­ing a win. I just came out, I did my best, and my best paid off. So I’m very thank­ful for win­ning this pres­ti­gious ti­tle of Mrs Globe T&T for 2025,” she said.

Aval­on Fe­lix Sem­per, crowned Mrs Trinidad and To­ba­go Clas­sique, will com­pete in the Mrs Clas­sique Globe In­ter­na­tion­al Pageant in Palm Springs, Cal­i­for­nia, from June 17 to 23.

The proud moth­er of four said, “I told my­self that tonight would be my last lo­cal pageant. It’s an amaz­ing feel­ing to take home the ti­tle, to be crowned, and to rep­re­sent T&T at a na­tion­al lev­el.

“I am one month away from turn­ing 50. I start­ed pageantry at the age of 15, and last June I par­tic­i­pat­ed in Mrs Uni­verse, win­ning Mrs Beau­ty Trinidad and To­ba­go in Ju­ly

“I will show­case our cul­ture and our cui­sine to the world. I aim to rep­re­sent as best as I can while al­so learn­ing about my­self on this jour­ney.”

Shierneil Kimk­er­an won the es­teemed ti­tle of Mrs Globe Curve T&T. That in­ter­na­tion­al pageant will al­so take place in Palm Springs in June.

Kimk­er­an, a moth­er of two, said, “It feels em­pow­er­ing be­cause with this ti­tle there will be op­por­tu­ni­ties that will be giv­en to me that I could now use to em­pow­er oth­er women.’”

T&T’s first Mrs Globe rep­re­sen­ta­tive was Yolan­da John who was the first run­ner-up at the pageant in Chi­na last year. She now serves as the lead man­ag­er and pro­duc­er of the na­tion­al pageant.