It has been half a century since one of the most extraordinary royal moments of the modern era – a terrifying episode in which a demented gunman tried to kidnap Princess Anne.
Twenty three-year-old Anne and her new husband Captain Mark Phillips were being driven down The Mall to Buckingham Palace when, on the evening of 20 March 1974, would-be kidnapper Ian Ball used his Ford Escort car to force the limousine to stop.
Using a pistol, he fire volleys of shots through the Austin limo windows, prompting Captain Phillips to shield his wife before attempting to bundle her out the other side of the car to safety.
The aftermath of Ian Ball’s attempt to kidnap Princess Anne, on The Mall, London, on 20 March 1974. Ball’s white Ford Escort parked blocking the path of the Princess’s Princess IV limousine
The Daily Mail’s front page coverage of the Princess’ attempted kidnap attempt in March 1974
Princess Anne and her then husband Captain Mark Phillips together in 1974
Anne’s police bodyguard, Detective Inspector Jim Beaton tried to intervene but his gun, a Walther PP, jammed and he was shot three times in the chest and arms.
While trying to stop Ball, a further three people were shot – including Anne’s chauffeur and another policeman.
Ball told Anne he was going to kidnap her and ordered her to get out of the car, reportedly saying: ‘Please, come out… You’ve got to come.’
The no-nonsense royal is said to have replied, ‘Not bloody likely’ – part of an exchange she later described as ‘very irritating’.
As the princess later recalled, she finally ‘lost her rag’ when her dress was ripped in the disturbance.
Ball was finally stopped when he was bundled to the ground by officer Peter Edmonds, having first been punched in the head by passing former boxer Ronnie Russell.
Russell had by then led Anne to safety.
Anne and Mark Phillips had been on their way back to Buckingham Palace after attending a charity film screening when, at around 8.30 pm, the attacker struck.
Chauffeur Alex Callender was at the wheel. Anne’s lady-in-waiting, Rowena Brassey, was also inside the car.
Ball had followed Anne’s limousine down The Mall and overtook it opposite Clarence House before braking sharply, forcing the limousine to stop.
Ball then got out and began shooting as he tried to get into the car.
A witness named as Miss Sammy Scott told the Daily Mail at the time: ‘I could see Princess Anne and Mark huddled in the back of the car.
Anne’s ordeal was recreated by ITV in film To Kidnap a Princess, starring Jenna Kershaw and Timothy Mitchell
The princess chats to her bodyguard, Inspector James Beaton, after he was injured during Ian Ball’s attempt to kidnap her
Ball had followed Anne’s car down The Mall and overtook it opposite Clarence House before braking sharply to force the limousine to stop. He then got out and began shooting
‘They were on the opposite side to the gunman. Suddenly, I saw a man fall down in front of me. He had been shot. He was covered in blood. He lay on the pavement.
‘Another man, a detective I suppose, came running up. I said to him: ‘This man has been shot, why doesn’t he go to hospital?’
‘The detective looked at me for a moment and then said: ‘So have I’. He opened his jacket and I could see blood pouring from his shoulder. Then he also collapsed.’
DI Beaton, who is now in his 70s, was shot immediately as he tried to intervene, meaning that he missed when he fired his first and only round before his gun jammed. He was shot twice more when he tried to use his body to protect Anne and her husband.
Brian McConnell, a journalist who had been following the couple, attempted to stop Ball and was shot in the chest.
Chauffeur Mr Callender was also hit.
The passing former boxer Mr Russell, who won the George Medal for his bravery , led the princess to safety before hitting the gunman twice in the head.
When PC Michael Hills came across the situation, he too was shot after calling for backup.
Support finally arrived in the form of Detective Constable Peter Edmonds and Ball was arrested.
Although DI Beaton, PC Hills, Mr Callender and Mr McConnell were hospitalised, all recovered and were able to continue their careers.
Anne with PC Michale Hills, who was also injured during the shooting on the Mall
Journalist Brian McConnell, who was passing and had jumped out to help was another who was hit
Princess Anne, Captain Mark Phillips (left) and Queen Elizabeth with a group of guests including Inspector James Beaton (third from left), and former boxer Ronnie Russell (right)
As well as Mr Russell’s award, DI Beaton was awarded the George Cross by the Queen, whilst PC Hills was also handed the George Medal.
Speaking in 1984 about the ordeal to chat show host Michael Parkinson, Anne said she had been ‘scrupulously polite’ to her attacker, because it would have been ‘silly to be too rude at that stage’ but said she lost her temper when he ripped her dress.
Ball went on to plead guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping and is still imprisoned at Broadmoor Hospital under the Mental Health Act.
The excuses Ball made in his police interview were revealed after the Mail on Sunday won a seven-month Freedom of Information battle. They had only been due to be released in 2048.
The would-be kidnapper told police that he had believed Anne would be an easy target. He said he had learned of her movements by phoning the Buckingham Palace press office.
He said: ‘I had thought about it for years… She would have been the easiest. I have seen her riding with her husband.’
The files also revealed Ball showed no remorse for shooting three men.
He said: ‘They were getting in my way so I had to shoot them. Well, the police, that’s their job. They expect to be shot. I took a chance of getting shot so why shouldn’t they?’
Ball had planned to take the Princess to a Central London property which he had rented under an alias, and to demand a ransom of £3 million – the equivalent of £26 million today.
It emerged in 2014 that Ball claimed in police interviews that ‘one good thing’ to come out of his ‘audacious’ crime was that officials would ‘have to improve’ Anne’s protection.
Detectives initially feared Ball was part of the IRA but he told officers: ‘I have got no friends. I’m a loner. I put a lot of thought and work into it.
‘I can’t expect people like you to understand or accept that I did it and planned it alone. Do you think I am part of the IRA or something?
‘If there had been anyone else they would have helped me at the scene.’
Princess Anne leaving Westminster Hospital with her detective Chris Hagon after visiting the injured victims
Ian Ball, then 26, is led to court in handcuffs to be charged
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arriving at Jakarta airport from Jogjakarta after being told of the kidnap attempt on their daughter
Speaking on ITV’s Anne: The Princess Royal at 70, she recalled: ‘What is interesting is what you remember and how you remember it, because although I thought I remembered everything that happened I would never have been able to swear I could remember in the right order.
‘Because they were like photos, individual snapshots. Very clearly.’
Anne confessed that she had previously thought about how she would react if someone attempted to kidnap her.
She said: ‘One thing about horses and sport is you have to prepare for the unexpected and you’ve got to think through the problems that are likely to occur’.