On March 20, 1974, an armed
madman named Ian Ball tried to kidnap Britain's
Ball, who had a history of psychiatric
problems and had been diagnosed a schizophrenic, thought Princess Anne would be
an easy target and, amazingly enough he had learned her movements simply by
telephoning 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.”
That night, Ball who had been
following the royal’s in a Ford Escort, caught up with the royals car on the
Pall Mall and cut it off. Blocking the
road, Ball leaped out of the car, a pistol in his hand. He purchased them in
Spain a month before)
“I thought” said Police Inspector
Jim Beaton, the Princesses security officer “it was somebody who wanted to be a
pain in the neck. There was no hint of what was to happen.”
What happened was that Ian Ball
fired through the front windshield of the royals car hitting Inspector Beaton in
the shoulder. Beaton pulled his service
weapon a Walther PPK and tried to return fire, but the gun jammed.
Ian Ball called out for Beaton to
drop his weapon or he would shoot the princess. Ball then ran over to the car
and tried to force open the door. The chauffeur, Alex Callender, rushed Ball
and tried to disarm him but was shot.
Alex Callender
Brian McConnell, a tabloid journalist who
was standing on the Mall intervened and
said “Don’t be silly, old boy. “Put the gun down.” Ball shot him.
Brian McConnell
By then Officer Beaton leaped
into the back beside the royal couple. Ball fired again and this time Beaton
put up his own arm to obstruct the bullet. He was shot through the hand and
then shot in the abdomen.
With Inspector Beaton down, Ball
ran to the car’s back door and pulled it open, grabbed Anne’s forearm as her husband held onto her waist.
“Please, come out,” Ball said to
Anne. “You’ve got to come” to which she replied, “Not bloody likely.”
As the two men struggled over
Anne, her dress ripped, splitting down the back.
“I was frightened, I won’t mind
admitting it,” Captain Phillips later said.
When Police constable Michael
Hills ran to the scene, Ball shot him as well.
Hills
Ronnie Russell, a 6’4 amateur heavyweight
boxer, the father of three was driving from work in central London and took a
short cut near the Pall Mall when he noticed Ian Ball driving erratically
towards Buckingham Palace.
Sensing something was wrong, Russel
turned his car around and drove towards the palace, where, close to the gates
he saw Ian Ball’s four victims lying on
the ground, wounded, while Ball was wrestling Princess Anne.
Russell ran up to Ball and punched
him in the back of the head. Ball fired a shot at him but missed. Russell reached
for a fallen Constables nightstick and Ball, seeing an opening, returned his
attention to the Princess when Russell landed a punch squarely on Ball’s jaw.
“I hit Ball very hard.” Russell said “He was flat on the floor face down. I jumped
on his back for good measure. I could have died, yeah, but I knew what I was
doing. The only person I did not want to get shot was Princess Anne.”
Ball stood up and ran. Another Constable named Peter Edmonds, a
temporary detective constable, had heard Officer Hills’ calls and ran to the
scene just as Ball fled. Edmonds chased him and his coat over Ball’s head and
tackled him.
Once arrested, Ball, then 26, said
‘I suppose I’ll be locked up for the rest of my life. I am only sorry I
frightened Princess Anne. There is one good thing coming out of this: you will
have to improve on her protection.’
When he was searched, police found
close to $1,000 in the unemployed Ball’s pockets. They also learned that he had
recently rented an apartment five miles away from Sandhurst Military Academy, which
was also the home of Princess Anne and Captain Phillips.
Ball had rented the car under the
name of John Williams. Inside the vehicle, police found two pairs of handcuffs,
Valium tranquilizers, and a typed ransom letter addressed to the Queen that
demanded 2 million pounds for the Princesses ransom to be delivered in £5 sterling notes.
He
also wanted the loot stored in 20 unlocked suitcases and put on a plane
destined for Switzerland, and, as if that weren’t enough, he also wanted the Queen
herself to appear on the plane to confirm the authenticity of her signatures on
needed paperwork. He said later that he intended to give the money to the
National Health Service, to be used to improve the care and treatment of
psychiatric patients.
Ball
When asked if he was part of the
Irish Republican Army he said ‘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. I knew [Inspector Beaton] would be
armed. If his gun had not jammed, I would be dead.’
Princess Anne visiting her bodyguard, Inspector James Beaton, at Westminster Hospital in London
Officer Hills
Otherwise he had no remorse for
wounding the four men. ‘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?’
Constables Hills and Edmond (cener)
“I am not surprised about the
lack of remorse” Inspector Beaton said “because he was mentally ill. But in a
sense his comments about Royal security were right. Nobody expected anything
like that to happen, not even with the IRA. We took precautions but nothing
like you have today.”
Ball, face covered
Ian Ball was charged with attempted
murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and attempting to
kidnap Princess Anne. He pleaded guilty to two of the attempted murder charges
and to the kidnapping charge. The Crown dropped the other charges. He was sentenced
to a life term in a mental health facility called Broadmoor, a high-security
psychiatric hospital. In 1983, Ball wrote
to a number of government officials that the attempted kidnapping was a hoax,
and that he was framed.
Queen Elizabeth awarded the George Cross, Britain’s highest
civilian award for courage, to Inspector Beaton. In 1983, Scotland Yard reorganized the Royalty
Protection Branch and placed Beaton as its superintendent.
The Queen also presented Police Constable Hills and
Ronald Russell, with the George Medal, the second-highest civilian honor for
bravery. Police Constable Edmonds, John Brian McConnell and Alexander Callender
were awarded the Queen’s Gallantry medal. Glenmore Martin received the Queen’s
Commendation for Brave Conduct. While handing Roland Russell his medal she whispered
“The medal is from the Queen of England. The thank you is from Anne’s mother”
When the Queen learned that Russel
was about to lose his home, she paid off his mortgage.
Princess Anne and Capt Mark Phillips (left) during the Mall kidnap attempt. Second left to right Royal Chauffeur Alexander Callender, Inspector James Beaton, Glanmore and Martin and Russell, far right