Forty-nine years ago today, the royal family survived a near tragedy when a crazed gunman attempted to kidnapPrincess Anne— luckily, she lived to tell the tale.
When the driver,unemployed laborer Ian Ball, started firing shots that injured both her chauffeur Alex Callender and her private detective James Beaton, he climbed into the front seat and ordered the 23-year-old royal to get out, to which she reportedly replied, “Not bloody likely.”
Princess Anne.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty
In a 1980 interview with British talk show host Michael Parkinson, Princess Anne spoke about how she refused to budge, even as Ball grabbed her arm and tackled her to the floor of the car.
“We had a sort of discussion about where or where not we were going to go,” she deadpanned.
Ronnie Russell.Mayfair Auctioneers
Anne said she saw no point in being rude to her assailant during the attack, which she thinks lasted at least 10 minutes.
“I was scrupulously polite because I thought it was silly to be too rude at that stage,” she said, adding that it was the moment when Ball ripped her dress that her attitude changed for the worse. “The back of my dress split and that was his most dangerous moment,” she quipped. “I lost my rag at that stage.”
Ronnie Russell with Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne.Mayfair Auctioneers
Selling the medal for $59,270 at a London auction in March 2020,Russell also revealed that the Queen paid off his mortgageas a gesture of gratitude after the traumatic incident, which left four people injured.
“I thought that was wonderful,” he toldTheMirrorat the time. “I was actually close to repossession at the time. They were going to repossess my home. So, I dug myself out of that one.”
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It was revealed during the trial that Ball had intended to kidnap Anne in order to hold her ransom for almost $4 million, after a letter he had written to the Queen was found in his possession.
Ball, then 26, was prosecuted for the attempted murder of Beaton and sentenced to life imprisonment in a psychiatric hospital.
source: people.com
