The "queen" was finally crowned at her funeral on Friday, after crowning many local beauty queens over nearly 20 years.

Ms Tracy Lee, who was also known as the "queen" of pageants among colleagues and beauty queens for being the woman behind the scene at many glitzy pageants, died in her sleep on Thursday.

She was 50 years old.

Her body was found by her caregiver in her three-room flat in Toa Payoh early on Thursday morning.

Ms Lee, who lived alone with her caregiver, is believed to have suffered a heart failure.

She leaves her elderly mother and three brothers, all of whom live in Malaysia.

Said long-time working partner and friend Alex Liu, the managing director of ERM World Marketing:

"She said she always wanted a crown, so we decided to get her a tiara to send her off."

The tiara, which was adorned with crystals, cost about $280 and was placed in her casket, to be cremated with her body.

Her funeral at Mandai Crematorium on Friday was attended by close to a hundred people, including her church friends, past pageant winners and colleagues.

Ms Lee was the events consultant of ERM, which has been organising pageants such as Miss Singapore Intercontinental and Manhunt Singapore.

Friends, colleagues and previous pageant winners describe her as stern, professional and no-nonsense, someone who demanded nothing but the best from her pageant girls.

Ms Lee, who suffered from diabetes, had been wheelchair-bound for the past six months.

But that did not stop her from working tirelessly behind the scenes at the beauty pageants.

Her most recent event was just two weeks ago - the Miss Singapore Beauty Pageant 2012 held at the Inter Continental Hotel ballroom.

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