Ian Ball, the gunman involved in a 1974 kidnapping attempt of Princess Anne, has recently stated he was “scarier” than the royal family and professed his innocence regarding the whole incident, which took place over 50 years ago.
After spending six years in a psychiatric facility, the 77-year-old Ball recounted his failed attempt to lure Princess Anne. In an interview, he claimed to have anticipated that the princess would be replaced by a body double during the ordeal. This assertion, he notes, is something he hasn’t brought up since pleading guilty years ago.
Ball mentioned there was a belief that gunpowder was taken from the bullet used in the incident and that someone else had taken Princess Anne’s place. He described the whole thing as a staged “horror,” supposedly orchestrated with help from a police “friend.”
Ball admitted his ultimate aim was to write an autobiography that would net him around £10,000 in royalties, saying, “I’m an innocent, sane guy.”
During the chaotic events of March 1974, Ball pursued the Rolls-Royce carrying Princess Anne, who was then 23, and her husband, Mark Phillips, after a charity event. The couple quickly realized they were being followed. Minutes away from Buckingham Palace, the driver, Alex Calendar, had to abruptly stop the vehicle.
Ball then opened fire, injuring Calendar, private detective James Beaton, police officers, and journalists in his frantic effort to abduct the princess. He soon leapt into the car and commanded Anne to exit. After she did, a passerby tackled him to the ground.
Following the harrowing incident, both the royal bodyguard and Beaton suffered gunshot wounds but were later awarded the George Cross for their bravery.
“I’m furious at this man who had been at war with me,” Anne reportedly said afterward. Ball, however, insists that he didn’t intimidate her and felt that he was more frightening than she was.
Years later, Ball even wrote to Queen Elizabeth II to declare that he had invaded her daughter’s life and had plans to hold her for ransom, demanding nearly $4 million.
Initially charged with attempted murder, he was sentenced to life in a mental hospital but was quietly released in 2019 under circumstances that remain unclear. By 2023, he published an autobiography detailing his experiences, titled “Trials.”
Anne has stated her anger at Ball, while her late father, Prince Philip, expressed that if the kidnapping had been successful, it would have been a complicated situation for Anne.
