Miss France 2004 was stripped of her title for six months on Wednesday for posing in revealing photos for Playboy magazine, the beauty pageant's organiser said.
Laetitia Bléger, 24, was sanctioned for appearing in skimpy attire in the May issue of the magazine's French edition, said Miss France Company in a statement. She was not naked.
Pageant organisers shopped short of permanently removing her title and forcing Bleger to return her prize winnings.
"Laetitia Bleger infringed on the rule forbidding the national winner from making herself available for licentious shots - either partially or fully nude," the statement said.
Bleger must hand over her crown and sash to Lucie Degletagen, the runner-up in the Miss France contest in December 2003, organisers said.
Reached by telephone on Sunday, before the penalty was handed down, Miss France president Genevieve de Fontenay criticised Bleger for making a "frontal attack" on the pageant by posing for Playboy.
"I am appalled and dismayed," de Fontenay said by phone.