Princess Anne escapes abduction at gunpoint
It’s 50 years in March since the Princess Royal demonstrated that she’s a force to be reckoned, after her cool reaction to a kidnap attempt.
Returning to Buckingham Palace after a charity event on 20 March, 1974, 23-year-old Anne and her then-husband Captain Mark Phillips were in a car with protection officer James Wallace Beaton, lady-in-waiting Rowena Brassey and chauffeur Alexander Callender when their route down The Mall was suddenly blocked by a white Ford Escort.
Behind the wheel was 26-year-old Ian Ball, who got out of the car and started running towards them with a gun. Beaton was shot in the right shoulder, his own pistol jammed, and Ball scrambled into the royal car. Anne reportedly shouted, ‘Just go away and don’t be such a silly man.’ When Ball ordered her to get out, she said, ‘Not bloody likely!’
By now, Beaton was covering Anne and was shot twice more. The chauffeur was shot in the chest. An onlooker, journalist Brian McConnell, tried to help but was also shot and injured. Policeman Michael
