The president of the Miss France beauty pageant said on Friday she wanted the winner of the 2008 competition to hand back her crown after a magazine published suggestive photographs of the 22-year old model.

"If she had some courage and a bit of dignity she would say 'I'm resigning because I'm not worthy to carry on as Miss France'," the head of the Miss France committee, Genevieve de Fontenay, told Europe 1 radio.

Valerie Begue, who comes from the French-run, Indian Ocean island of Reunion, was elected Miss France 2008 on prime time television earlier this month. She has ruled out standing down, saying the pictures were published without her consent.

The photos showed the bikini-clad brunette floating in a swimming pool on a wooden cross in a Christ-like pose. Another one showed her licking condensed milk in a provocative fashion.

Anyone standing for the Miss France crown has to sign a contract saying they had never been photographed in the nude or in suggestive poses.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.