Princess Anne survived armed kidnap attempt as she branded gunman 'silly man'

23 September 2023 , 13:41

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Princess Anne survived armed kidnap attempt as she branded gunman 'silly man'

Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips found themselves in the firing line when an armed attacker tried to kidnap her.

However, the Princess Royal, 73, who is known to be blunt refused to move and branded the attacker a "silly man" after he tried to abduct her just meters away from Buckingham Palace. The King's younger sister and Captain Phillips, the father of her two children had been travelling back to the official residence of the Monarch, her late mother from an engagement.

But just four months after she and Phillips married, the pair found themselves under fire when their chauffer-driven car suddenly came to a halt after a Ford Escort pulled in front of them just outside of Clarence House. Driving the car was Ian Ball who had his sights set on the Princess who was then aged just 23.

Princess Anne and her former husband Captain Mark Phillips spoke about the moment they became embroiled in an armed altercation (YouTube)

At the time, it was claimed that Ball had a plot to "flee with Anne shackled to his leg," in order to demand a £2 million ransom from her mother. But in true Anne style, Her Royal Highness refused to move from her car and said it was "not bloody likely" that she would leave with Ball.

During the attack, Anne's security officer, Jim Beaton, was almost killed as he attempted to protect the two royals. Beaton had not drawn his own gun when Ball shot him in the shoulder. When he had attempted to fire his own weapon, a Walther PPK, it had jammed. When asked to put his gun down, Ball threatened to shoot Anne before attempting to force entry into the car before eventually climbing in alongside Anne and Phillips.

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As Beaton attempted to continue his mission to protect her life, he was later shot in the hand and then the abdomen. Anne remained calm throughout the incident but eventually became furious when her dress was ripped during the altercation. Recalling the incident with Michael Parkinson, the Princess said: "He opened the door and we had a sort of, discussion about where or where not we were going to go."

Her car was stopped on The Mall by an armed attacker who vowed to kidnap the Princess Royal (Press Association)

When prompted about the conversation, Her Royal Highness explained: "He said I had to go with him, I can't remember why, I said I didn't think I wanted to go very much, I was scrupulously police 'cause I thought it was silly to be rude at that stage. We had a fairly lowkey discussion about the fact that I wasn't going to go anywhere and wouldn't it be much better if he just went away and we'd all forget about it which was wishful thinking."

The mother-of-two continued: "It did get slightly rougher at one stage when he shot the policeman we managed to shut the door, he got the door back open. But in the process of getting the door back open, the back of my dress ripped, all the shoulders went and that was his most dangerous moment, I lost my rag at that stage. He'd opened the door, he grabbed my arm and pulled. I wasn't going anywhere, put it this way." Anne went on to explain she yelled: "Just go away and don't be such a silly man."

She joked that her lady-in-waiting had been going to pick a policeman's gun up but a passerby instructed her not to do so in a "fierce tone". Anne continued: "Somehow we all ended up on the floor, I was lying flat on my back on the floor of the car and you [Phillips] were sort of half on top.

Ball (pictured) pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping (PA)

The Princess Royal branded her attacker a "silly man" (PA)

"I could reach the door handle behind my head and I opened the door and literally pulled my feet over my head and did a backwards somersault onto the road." The attacker subsequently sprinted towards the park after a ten-minute altercation when The Metropolitan Police arrived.

But a passerby soon came to the rescue, with boxer Ronnie Russell punching Ball in the head. After the incident, Russell was awarded the prestigious George Medal by the late Queen, who said to him: "The medal is from the Queen, but I want to thank you as Anne's mother." Ian Ball was subsequently arrested and later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping. During a police interview, he claimed there was a positive outcome. At the time, royals only travelled with one security guard. Now, this has completely changed and their choice of weaponry has also changed.

Ball said he had "thought" about targetting Anne as she was the "easiest" and was told about her movements by the Buckingham Palace press office.

Daniel Bird