María Julia Mantilla García was born on the 10 July 1984 in Trujillo, a city in Peru's northern coast. On the 4 December 2004, in the Beauty Crown Theatre located in the Chinese beach city of Sanya, she was crowned Miss World 2004 by the last year's winner, Rosanna Davison of Ireland, daughter of singer Chris de Burgh. She is the second winner of Miss World from Peru. During her reign, Mantilla performed a variety of duties focused on fundraising for charitable organizations. She has travelled to Indonesia, Russia, Peru, United States, Russia, Czech Republic, China and many other countries during her reign. Popularly known in her country as "Maju" Mantilla, her aunt María Julia Mantilla Mayer was Miss Peru 1969. She won the right to represent Peru in the Miss World contest as runner-up to Liesel Holler (Miss Peru Universe 2004) and was one of the major favorites in the run-up to the pageant, which was decided by a global television/telephone/online vote. In 2001, Mantilla became the Peruvian national champion of Triathlon and Penthathlon, and was elected national athlete of the year. She is a professional in The Marinera, a typical local dance. With a group of ladies, developed a program in Trujillo to give breakfast to hundreds of children in poor areas. As many others altruistic initiatives, she doesn't care currently. On 10 December 2005, She crowned her successor, Miss Iceland, Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir.