The man who tried to kidnap Princess Anne at gunpoint nearly 50 years ago has been quietly released from a high-security mental hospital and is now waging a bizarre campaign to clear his name.
Ian Ball, now 77, was 26 when he ambushed the Princess Royal on The Mall in March 1974. He attempted to abduct her at gunpoint and shot four men who tried to intervene.
Despite the chaos, Anne refused to comply with his demands for a £2 million ransom, famously telling him: “Not bloody likely, and I haven’t got £2 million.”
Ball was detained at Broadmoor Hospital after admitting attempted murder and attempted kidnap, but was released on probation in 2019, according to the Daily Mail. Since then, he has been selling a self-published book and using social media to claim he was the victim of a hoax.
The book, titled To Kidnap a Princess, is described on Amazon as an “autobiographical novel” and claims to open with “the dramatic and thrilling attempted kidnapping of Princess Anne” before detailing Ball’s “eventful and turbulent 45-year stay in Rampton and Broadmoor criminal lunatic asylums”.
It adds: “The book is an emotive read and it will make you laugh, make you cry, shock you even, but ultimately it will leave you in wonder at the indomitability of the human spirit.”
Speaking to the Mail, Ball claimed: “I’m an innocent, sane man because I had good reason to believe the gunpowder had been taken out of the bullets and another girl had been substituted for Princess Anne.”
He added: “She wasn’t bothered on the night. I didn’t scare her. I was more scared than she was.”
Ball had skidded his car in front of Princess Anne’s vehicle on The Mall and used two guns to shoot her police bodyguard, her chauffeur, a police constable and a journalist. He then tried to drag her from the car as her husband, Captain Mark Phillips, fought him off.
The kidnapping attempt ended when former heavyweight boxer Ronnie “The Geezer” Russell stepped in and punched Ball twice in the head, helping to subdue him.
Anne later said she was furious that Ball had ripped her favourite blue velvet dress during the struggle.
In his book and online posts, Ball insists the kidnapping was a hoax meant to generate publicity for a book deal. He claims the plot was staged with the help of a policeman he refers to only as “Frank”, who allegedly removed the gunpowder from the bullets and arranged for a different woman to stand in for Anne.
“The whole idea of performing the hoax was to get the publicity so I could write my autobiography, and I expected to get £10,000 in royalties,” Ball said.
“To prove my innocence I need to prove the existence of Frank. That will prove I had reason to believe it was all a hoax.”
He also claims he was wrongfully locked up by “the upper classes” and that the late Queen was the “ring-leader”.
Ball reportedly distributes leaflets in his local west London area and uses social media to appeal against his convictions.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Restricted patients can be recalled back to hospital if their mental health deteriorates to such a level that the risk they pose becomes unmanageable in the community.”
Princess Anne’s bodyguard, then-Metropolitan Police Inspector Jim Beaton, was shot three times during the attack and was later awarded the George Cross for his bravery.
Ronnie Russell, who helped stop the kidnapping, was given the George Medal by Queen Elizabeth II. She reportedly told him: “The medal is from the Queen, but I want to thank you as Anne’s mother.”
Prince Philip later quipped: “If the man had succeeded in abducting Anne, she would have given him a hell of a time in captivity.”
