However, Miss World Australia pageant owner and "mother superior" Deborah Miller denied anything untoward had occurred and accused the girls of "being bitter and jealous". "The judging is independently audited; there is no room for any kind of rigging," Miller told PS. "They are obviously very disappointed they did not do better, but in the end it comes down to how the judges vote, and there is more than one criteria the girls are judged on ... I think there are a couple of bitter and jealous girls this year, and that is very disappointing." Miss World first and second runners up Lavinia White and La'Ace de Vries. Credit:Instagram As for the boycott of the trip to the Maldives, Miller said: "How ridiculous! We have 25 other girls eager to go in their place and that's what we have done. We filled those spots in seconds ... with girls happy to represent Australia."

The trouble began when it emerged that one of the judges this year, who was the winner of Miss World 2014, Courtney Thorpe, had also "coached" this year's winner. But Thorpe told PS: "I have previously trained other contestants, including La'Ace de Vries. When this all blew up I asked Deborah to deduct my scores and check the results ... it was exactly the same: my scoring made no difference at all." Miss World "mother superior" Deborah Miller with Miss World Australia 2014 Courtney Thorpe. Credit:Instagram Adding further fuel to the conspiracy theories was an online news report published nine hours before Taylah Cannon was announced as the winner, but which appeared to have the pageant's final results in advance.

Miller told PS the story had been "updated" following the announcement, having gone from being a preview of the pageant to reveal who had won. However, it still carried its original "time-stamp" from earlier in the day. Sydney's Lavinia White was by far the most successful fundraiser this year, generating $107,000 for the Charlie Teo Foundation, about eight times the amount that Cannon had raised. For her efforts, White was named this year's Beauty with a Purpose winner. But many of her supporters have gone on social media and asked why she did not win. "What they don't question is that Lavinia was fortunate to be able to raise the vast majority of her money in one night at a Double Bay hotel," Thorpe told PS. "Some other girls did not raise as much and yet they had to do many more fundraisers because they come from areas where it is more difficult to raise that sort of money ... you could say they worked harder than Lavinia did. "I know how disappointing it can be to get so far and not win; it happened to me at the internationals. And yes, you can get bitter and jealous. But, really, this is about a competition, and the judging is always going to be subjective." Cannon is the fifth Queensland winner in six years, and organisers have confirmed Miss World will return to the Gold Coast next year.

Cannon will represent Australia in China on December 8 for the global title. Mystery surrounds art sale While the pending sale of the late Lady (Mary) Fairfax's Fairwater estate in Point Piper is set to smash national house sale records, it is what lies within the historic mansion's walls that is causing palpitations within the Sydney art world, and internationally. Lady Fairfax amassed one of the greatest private art collections in Australia. Over the years the Fairfaxes amassed an extraordinary collection of artworks and objets d'art, including the giant two-metre tall bronze nude sculpture by Auguste Rodin that greeted visitors to the foyer of Fairwater.

There were many other priceless pieces too, by Chagall, Degas, Epstein, Dobell and Boyd among others. While Christie's has secured the real estate listing, it is unclear if any fine art auction houses have been given the task of cataloguing and selling the Fairfax collection. Sydney's Deutscher and Hackett sold the collection of the late James Fairfax last year, but senior art specialist Henry Mulholland said he "couldn't possibly comment" on whether they had secured the Fairwater gig. Some art dealers, however, suspect the job will end up with an international auction house given the pedigree of artists in the collection, with the likes of Christie's or Sotheby's coming in and taking the pieces to London or New York to be sold. The sale would mark the sad end of an era at Fairwater, where Lady Fairfax conducted a never-ending salon among her treasure house of fine art.

Among those who were treated to a private viewing of the works were Rex Harrison, Rudolf Nureyev, Pierre Trudeau, Phyllis Diller, Liberace, Glenda Jackson, Emilio Pucci and Imelda Marcos. It's in the bag for the Vicars With his wealth (modestly) estimated at $527 million, Sydney funds manager Will Vicars and his wife, Jane, are not shy with their money, but up until now they have been shy about the attention it inevitably attracts. Will Vicars, a reclusive Sydney millionaire, stepped into the spotlight following his purchase of Oroton. Credit:Louie Douvis In June, they were among this city's wealthiest residents to each chip in $1 million towards the expansion of the Art Gallery of NSW.

But Sydney's historic art museum is not the only local icon that have received a lifeline from the Vicars. On Tuesday night, the couple hosted Australia's leading fashion magazine editors and PS at a dinner party in their $21 million-plus "beach house" overlooking Bondi (they live at another home in Point Piper). There they revealed their plans to bring the iconic accessories label Oroton back from the brink. A brighter future ahead for Australian brand Oroton. Credit:Fairfax Media "I'm not really used to this sort of thing. We tend to shy away from publicity, but we know that for Oroton to be a success again we need the media's support ... so welcome," Vicars told PS, through slightly gritted teeth. And there we were, surrounded by what must rank as one of Sydney's finest art collections - ranging from contemporary photography and Indigenous pieces to works by celebrated artists including Erskineville bone sculptor Linde Ivimey and late painter Jeffrey Smart - and talking about handbags. Until recently, Oroton had been a business controlled by three generations of Sydney's Lane clan. Vicars, an old friend of Oroton chief executive Ross Lane, has been a long-term investor in the business, which last November faced extinction after administrators were appointed and the Lanes were left facing debts of $40 million.

But it was Vicars who struck a $35 million deal in December with Westpac to wipe out Oroton's debt, becoming owner of the brand in the process. Lane remains as chief executive, and his daughter, Sascha, has just joined the business in the marketing department, becoming the fourth generation of the Lane family to work with Oroton. The Vicars, who are also keen sailors and own the superyacht Drumfire, which has been carving up Sydney Harbour in recent times, say they have big plans for Oroton, with a focus on expansion, both locally and globally, and extending its offering from handbags and accessories to fashion. Indeed, Jane Vicars was already wearing one of the fab new Oroton scarves on Tuesday night - and it had the fashion pack cooing in unison. Not-so-cheap shot of Turnbulls

Old friends and Manhattan capers for Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull. Credit:Andrew Meares On the day Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in as prime minister of Australia in 2015, his good mate and fellow investment banker, the Sydney millionaire Simon Mordant, told the Herald: "We've got a driven, focused, passionate person who is very dynamic and is an optimistic person by character." So PS thought it was particularly interesting to see the byline of the photographer responsible for Lucy and Malcolm Turnbull's "paparazzi" photos in New York: one Angus Mordant. And yes, Angus is the photographer son of Simon Mordant, who normally does somewhat more artistic work than the shots of the Turnbulls hauling their luggage and trying to escape the media on the streets of the Big Apple.

