Hero bodyguard who saved Princess Anne from a crazed gunman reveals he still has a bullet in his hand, 50 years after he was shot three times while trying to protect the royal family

For his heroic efforts to protect Princess Anne, Jim Beaton was awarded the George Cross.

But the more lasting souvenir of his brush with death fifty years ago today – when mad gunman Ian Ball tried to kidnap the Princess Royal – is a bullet fragment embedded in his hand.

Mr Beaton, 81, was an inspector in the Metropolitan Police and served as Anne’s bodyguard for five years.

Ball ambushed Anne as she and her then-husband, Captain Mark Phillips, were driven through The Mall late at night.

Mr Beaton was shot three times by Ball after his own gun jammed, but escaped with his life when he passed former boxer Ronnie Russell and hit the gunman on the head.

Mr Beaton was speaking today to mark the 50th anniversary of the kidnap attempt the BBC how Ball “shot me in the chest” and talked about the “bullet” still lodged in his right hand.

He added: “We got about three-quarters of the way down the Mall and this white car pulled up in front of us.

“This guy Ian Ball, the driver of the white car, was coming back towards the royal car.

‘I got out of my seat and came behind the car. And he went bang bang and he shot me in the chest. I tried to shoot him back with my gun.

“I missed the first shot and then the gun jammed.”

“Ball pointed his gun at Princess Anne and said, ‘Drop your gun or I’ll shoot her,’ or something to that effect.

‘He shot at the same time as my hand went up and the bullet landed in my hand. We kicked the back door open and there was Ian Ball and he shot me in the stomach.

‘I struggled out of the car, clearly in a daze… walked around the front of the car and lay down on the pavement.’

Ball had used his Ford Escort car to stop the limousine carrying the royal couple, along with Anne’s lady-in-waiting Rowena Brassey.

Driver Alex Callender was at the wheel when the car was overtaken by Ball opposite Clarence House.

When Ball told Anne he was going to kidnap her and ordered her to get out of the car, the princess is said to have replied, “Damn probably!”

As well as wounding Mr Beaton, Ball shot Mr Callender, passing police officer Michael Hills and journalist Brian McConnell, who had been following the pair before trying to intervene.

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 support arrived in the form of Detective Peter Edmonds, Ball was eventually arrested.

A witness, named 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.’

Fortunately, everyone who was injured recovered and was able to resume their careers.

Mr Beaton was visited by Princess Anne while he was in hospital.

He said: ‘When Princess Anne came to see me in hospital it was quite funny because the staff said, “Come on, you have to put something on, cover your chest and all the wounds and things like that”.

“We were just saying, you know, glad we’re all still alive and kicking, so to speak.”

PC Hills also received the George Medal.

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

Mr Beaton has previously highlighted how the quality of royal protection has improved dramatically since Ball’s attack on Princess Anne.

He previously said: ‘I had nothing.

“There was no backup vehicle. The training was non-existent; but yeah, we thought nothing would happen. They are now very specialized, highly trained.’

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 added: “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 property in central London that he had rented under an alias. He would demand a ransom of £3 million.

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.”

He also told police: ‘I knew it [Beaton] would be armed. If his gun hadn’t jammed, I’d be dead.”