A Miss Great Britain contender found out she is a distant relative of Princess Diana.
Niamh Gwen, who works in Kirkby as a social media manager at protein bar company Mountain Joe's, said she found out she was related to the late Princess of Wales after her mum looked into their family's history using a genealogy website.
The 24-year-old said her family are related to Princess Diana's great grandmother. Niamh said she was shocked when her mum told her about the connection to the Royal Family.
READ MORE: Woman went on holiday and left dog in a filthy cage to die
Niamh told the ECHO: "My mum said 'no way we are descendants of royalty' and I was just like 'are you joking me, we are not royal'." The social media manager is also aiming for a crown and hopes to win the title of Miss Great Britain at the final in October.
Niamh, who is from Chorley, has already been crowned as Miss Preston five years ago. She said she started entering pageants as she struggled with lack of confidence and social anxiety.
She said: "I just did it for confidence as I was becoming teacher, because I had absolutely no confidence whatsoever. I was the most socially awkward." She added: "I struggled with eye contact, panic attacks all the time.
"I just needed to do something completely out of my comfort zone and it was the best thing I have ever done. I wasn't bothered about winning but it was something to talk about and people would find it interesting. It would give me a bit of a talking point.
"That was the main reason I did it, I didn't expect to win or go on to anything." Niamh is also keen to raise awareness of what the Miss Great Britain competition does for the community and charities.
The historic Miss Great Britain event is an annual, national beauty pageant that has been crowning winners since 1945. Every year the competition attracts a mix of independent and empowered women, giving them the platform to showcase their brand and the causes they support.
The 24-year-old said there are a "handful of causes" which are close to her who she tries to work with. These include helping to raise funds for a woman's refuge and working with children and education for mental health and wellbeing strategies.
She said being a Miss Great Britain finalist gives her a platform to promote these causes. Speaking to the ECHO, Niamh said: "It's a bit of a platform really, it's different and people listen to it even if they don't agree with it, so it is a good way of getting people to say 'oh yeah'."
She added: "It's a very positive thing and using it as a positive thing and I think this what people need to know and understand about it."
The charity partner for Miss Great Britain this year is Cancer Research UK and also May is skin cancer awareness month. Niamh said she and the other pageant contenders are campaigning for people to check their moles, check their skin and the importance of SPF.
Niamh said she also had a scare and had to have a mole removed on her back as doctors were concerned about it. She said: "It was quite scary actually, they were like we need to get this off now and it looked really bad.
"But fortunately for me it was not melanoma but I think people need to know what to look out for."
