On March 20, 1974, a man attempted to abduct Princess Anne, injuring four people, including her chauffeur, Alex Callender, and a private detective named James Beaton. Now, Princess Anne’s attempted kidnapper, Ian Ball, has spoken about the ordeal an interview, revealing he was “scared” during the incident.
As reported by the Daily Mail, a then-26-year-old Ball “was detained ‘without limit of time’ under the Mental Health Act after admitting attempted kidnap and two attempted murders.” After being sent to a high-security psychiatric hospital, Ball was released in 2019, and has since claimed his innocence, per the outlet.
“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,” Ball told the Daily Mail in an interview.
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Ball also shockingly discussed Princess Anne’s supposed reaction during his attempted abduction, telling the publication, “She wasn’t bothered on the night…I didn’t scare her. I was more scared than she was.”
The aftermath of Ian Ball’s attempt to kidnap Princess Anne on March 20, 1974.
(Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Claiming that the entire incident was a “hoax,” Ball told the Daily Mail in his new interview, “[Princess Anne] said, ‘You just go away and nobody will think any more about it’, which fueled the belief that I thought it was a hoax.” He continued, “At the time I thought it wasn’t Princess Anne in the car. She looked nothing like Princess Anne. The personality was nothing like Princess Anne.”
(Image credit: Graham Bezant/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
The Guardian further reported, “In the attempt to drag Anne away, [Ball] shot her bodyguard, chauffeur, a police officer, and a journalist. The princess was said to have infamously retorted ‘not bloody likely’ [when Ball tried to kidnap her].”
According to the Daily Mail, “It was only by chance that no-one died” during the attack, when “a passing boxer helped police to subdue” Ball before he could allegedly cause any more injuries.
