Princess Anne, subject of The Perfect Royal on Channel 5, once talked an armed man out of kidnapping her.
The extraordinary incident occurred in March 1974 as the Queen‘s daughter returned to Buckingham Palace following a charity event,
During the commotion, would-be kidnapper Ian Ball – who was armed with two guns – ended up shooting four people.
It has been reported Anne’s actions helped stall Ball as he demanded the then 23-year-old Princess Royal get out of her car.
But other reports have claimed the much-admired sister of King Charles refused point blank to consider Ball’s request, telling him: “Not bloody likely!”
Princess Anne attempted kidnapping
Joining Anne in her vehicle were then husband Captain Mark Phillips, her lady-in-waiting, and her bodyguard Inspector Jim Beaton.
After turning into The Mall, the royal’s car was cut up by a Ford Escort which forced the driver to stop.
Ball then jumped out of vehicle and approached the royal limo – and confronted Beaton with a gun when he officer stepped out himself. Ball then proceeded to shoot the bodyguard in the right shoulder.
Due to his injury, Beaton was unable to return fire. Then his own weapon jammed. And by this time Ball had ordered those in the car to open up or he’d shoot.
As Captain Phillips and the lady-in-waiting struggled to keep the car secure, Beaton managed to clamber back in and put his own body between Ball and Princess Anne.
He was then shot two more times, receiving further injuries to his hand and abdomen. Beaton later recalled in a police statement: “I felt tired and very drunk, although I hadn’t been drinking. I just wanted to lie down.”
The driver, Alexander Callendar, was also shot, in the chest, and a passing journalist who also tried to intervene was the third person to be shot.
‘I was scrupulously polite’
Eventually, boxer Ronnie Russell – who was also passing – subdued Ball with a punch to the back of the head.
But Anne’s contributions have been regarded as crucial to ensuring the incident did not end much worse than it did.
During a 1983 appearance on Parkinson, Anne recalled: “He opened the door, and we had a sort of discussion, about where or where not we were going to go. He said I had to go with him, I can’t remember why. I said I didn’t think I wanted to go.
We had a fairly low-key discussion about the fact that I wasn’t going to go anywhere.
“I was scrupulously polite because I thought it’s silly to be too rude or that sort of thing. We had a fairly low-key discussion about the fact that I wasn’t going to go anywhere and wouldn’t it be much better if he moved away and we’d all forget about it?”
Remarkably, despite Ball shooting four different people, there were no fatalities.
He was arrested, and charged with attempted murder and kidnapping. Ball was ultimately sentenced to 41 years in high-security psychiatric facility Broadmoor.
Jim Beaton and Ronnie Russell, meanwhile, each received a George Cross for gallantry.
Read more: King Charles makes major change to Anne and Edward’s royal roles in ‘snub’ to Andrew and Harry
Princess Anne: The Perfect Royal airs on Channel 5 next Saturday, January 14, at 6.10pm.
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Robert Leigh
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