'I'm related to Princess Diana' says beauty queen and former Miss Preston selected to represent Great Britain

Social media manager and former Miss Preston, Niamh Gwen, said: “My mum was interested in finding out her ancestry and wanted to log it while she still knew a few generations prior.

“We are related to both Princess Diana’s 13th great grandma and 15th great grandad too."

Niamh, 24, who works in Kirkby at protein bar company Mountain Joe's was crowned Miss Preston a few years ago and is now hoping to secure the Miss Great Britain title in October.

The two charities for this year's event are for Cancer Research and Alex's Wish

"This month is also skin cancer awareness month. I had a mole removed when I was 18 after having an allergic reaction to fake tan.

"My mum was putting it on my back and she felt it."

Luckily, the mole turned out to be benign, but it has deterred Niamh from using sunbeds.

Niamh also champions a number of charitable causes collecting hundreds of items for Mind, Variety and the local women’s refuge, alongside raising £8,000 for charity.

Not content with lending her hand to many fundraisers, Niamh is also a pro at teaching her three-year-old snoodle Freddie (a cross between a poodle and a miniature schnauzer) new tricks including learning to 'talk'.

Dispelling the myth that beauty queens are all confident, she added that her university dissertation was on mental health.

"I used to be a very anxious person. When I first started entering beauty pageants I really struggled with my confidence and with some people saying negative stuff.

"I thought hang on no! I'm helping and wanting to do something good and this is a good platform to do it.

"People think you are doing it because of vanity but a lot of the people who do it suffer with self confidence.

"There is a lot that goes into it."

If she could change one law what would it be?

"I would legalise gay marriage everywhere as there needs to be more love in the world."