‘Not damn likely’! That’s what this brave queen told a crazy gunman who tried to kidnap her 50 years ago today…

It’s been half a century since one of the most extraordinary royal moments of modern times took place: a terrifying episode in which a demented gunman tried to kidnap Princess Anne.

Twenty-three-year-old Anne and her new husband, Captain Mark Phillips, were being driven through The Mall to Buckingham Palace when, on the evening of March 20, 1974, would-be kidnapper Ian Ball used his Ford Escort car to force the limousine to a halt. .

Using a pistol, he fires volleys of shots through Austin’s limousine windows, prompting Captain Phillips to protect his wife before attempting to get her to safety on the other side of the car.

Anne’s police bodyguard, Detective Jim Beaton, tried to intervene, but his gun, a Walther PP, jammed and he was shot three times in the chest and arms.

While trying to stop Ball, three more people were shot, including Anne’s driver and another police officer.

Ball told Anne he was going to kidnap her and ordered her out of the car, allegedly saying, “Please come out… You have to come.”

The no-nonsense royal is said to have replied: ‘Not very likely’ – part of a conversation she later described as ‘very annoying’.

As the princess later recalled, she “eventually lost her rag” when her dress tore during the unrest.

The ball was eventually stopped when he was bundled to the ground by officer Peter Edmonds, having first been hit in the head by passing former boxer Ronnie Russell.

Russell had gotten Anne to safety by then.

Anne and Mark Phillips were on their way back to Buckingham Palace after attending a charity film screening when the attacker struck at around 8.30pm.

Driver Alex Callender was at the wheel. Anne’s lady-in-waiting, Rowena Brassey, was also in the car.

Ball had followed Anne’s limousine down The Mall and overtook him opposite Clarence House before slamming on the brakes, forcing the limousine to stop.

Ball then got out and started shooting as he tried to get into the car.

A witness called Miss Sammy Scott told the Daily Mail at the time: ‘I saw Princess Anne and Mark huddled in the back of the car.

“They were on the other side of the shooter. Suddenly I saw a man fall in front of me. He had been shot. He was covered in blood. He was lying on the sidewalk.

“Another man, a detective, I think, came running. I said to him, ‘This man has been shot, why doesn’t he go to the hospital?’

‘The detective looked at me for a moment and then said: ‘I have that too.’ He opened his jacket and I saw blood pouring from his shoulder. Then he collapsed too.’

DI Beaton, who is now in his 70s, was shot immediately when he tried to intervene, meaning he missed when he fired his first and only bullet before his gun jammed. He was shot two more times as he tried to use his body to protect Anne and her husband.

Brian McConnell, a journalist who had been following the couple, tried to stop Ball and was shot in the chest.

Driver Mr Callender was also hit.

Passing former boxer Russell, who won the George Medal for his bravery, guided the princess to safety before punching the gunman twice in the head.

When PC Michael Hills encountered the situation he was also shot after calling for backup.

Support eventually arrived in the form of Detective Peter Edmonds and Ball was arrested.

Although DI Beaton, PC Hills, Mr Callender and Mr McConnell were hospitalized, they all recovered and were able to continue their careers.

In addition to Mr Russell’s award, DI Beaton received the Queen’s George Cross, while PC Hills also received the George Medal.

Speaking about the ordeal with chat show host Michael Parkinson in 1984, Anne said she had been “scrupulously polite” to her attacker because it would have been “foolish to be too rude at that moment”, but said that she lost her patience when it tore. her dress.

Ball pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping and remains jailed at Broadmoor Hospital under the Mental Health Act.

The apology Ball made during his police questioning was revealed after the Mail on Sunday won a seven-month freedom of information battle. They wouldn’t be released until 2048.

The would-be kidnapper told police he thought Anne would be an easy target. He said he learned of her movements by calling the Buckingham Palace press office.

He said: ‘I had thought about it for years… She would have been the easiest. I saw her driving with her husband.’

The records also showed that Ball showed no remorse for shooting three men.

He said: ‘They were in my way so I had to shoot them. Well, the police, that’s their job. They expect to be shot. I took the chance to get shot, so why wouldn’t they?’

Ball planned to take the princess to a central London property he had rented under an alias, and demand a ransom of £3 million – the equivalent of £26 million today.

In 2014, it emerged that Ball claimed in police interviews that ‘one good thing’ about his ‘bold’ crime was that officials ‘needed to improve’ Anne’s protection.

Detectives initially feared Ball was part of the IRA, but he told officers: ‘I have no friends. I’m a loner. I’ve thought and worked on it a lot.

“I can’t expect people like you to understand or accept that I did and planned it alone. Do you think I’m part of the IRA or something?

“If anyone else had been there, they would have helped me on the spot.”

Speaking on ITV’s Anne: The Princess Royal at the age of 70, she recalled: ‘What’s interesting is what you remember and how you remember it, because although I thought I remembered everything that happened, I never would have I could swear I could remember it in the future. correct sequence.

‘Because they were like photographs, individual snapshots. Very clear.’

Anne admitted that she had previously thought about how she would react if someone tried to kidnap her.

She said: ‘One thing about horses and sport is that you have to prepare for the unexpected and think about the problems that are likely to arise.’