One of King Charles' guards, Manuel Alcantara Turner, 22, looked unrecognisable as he was unveiled as Mr England on Thursday.
The British soldier, who served during the King’s Coronation and the late Queen Elizabeth's funeral, is the first soldier to win the competition, beating more than 150 applicants, according to The Times.
Manuel, hailing from Whitley Bay in Tyneside, serves as a lance corporal with the Coldstream Guards and is based at Victoria Barracks near Windsor Castle. Following his win, the current Miss England, Milla Maee, shared a video with her 72,000 followers to reveal the exciting news. See the moment he won below.
Referencing his role in serving the country, Milla wrote: "Each finalist worked so hard to get to the Top 12. However, there can only be ONE WINNER. I am so excited for your journey to @mrworld.official and will be by your side every step of the way. There is no one more perfect to fit this role, and I know you will do us all proud, as you already are for our country."
As for Manuel, he couldn't help but express his pride in serving the British Royal Family following his win. He told The Times: "All I want to do is lay my life down for England, so I think that’s pretty deserving for Mr. England.
© Instagram"It’s an absolute honour to win this. I will represent my country well and hopefully make everyone proud," Mr. Turner said. “I have been based out of Windsor with the British Army since I was 16, but I’m originally from Newcastle.
"Since being in the King's Guard, I’ve been on ceremonial duties for the King’s Coronation and the Queen’s funeral, as well as the Queen’s last birthday parade. In terms of actual soldiering, I’ve been deployed twice to Kenya and have been training Ukrainians.
Manuel won his title after competing in a catwalk round, a fashion shoot, and an interview. Now, he has his sights set on Vietnam, where he will compete to be Mr. World in November.
Regarding whether he could get time off from his role at Windsor, he added: "I checked with them just in case, so time off work will not be an issue [for the Mr. World contest]."
It isn’t just Manuel who has had brushes with royalty. Miss England, Milla, dubbed "the Cornish Pamela Anderson," met Prince William ahead of her win in May, where she discussed her Beauty With A Purpose project: GoFarWithCPR—a project aimed at making CPR and first aid training compulsory in the school system.
She penned on Instagram alongside a photo of her and the Prince of Wales: "It was so enriching to see the Prince’s acknowledgement of the importance of CPR. He agreed that knowledge of CPR and basic first aid training could be the difference between life and death. We both agreed on the importance of getting basic lifesaving skills into schools across the country, and that it should be made mandatory by our government.
"We also both agreed how incredible it is that something so SIMPLE but so effective in helping to SAVE A LIFE is not already part of our school curriculum. By teaming up with St. John Ambulance, join us on our mission to change that—GoFarWithCPR."
