In the British royal family, Princess Anne was always different. She was not the fairytale princess, nor the fashion icon. She was her father’s daughter: pragmatic, hard-working, no-nonsense, and at times, prickly. She was an Olympic equestrian who wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. The public respected her for her tireless devotion to duty, but few knew just how unbreakable she truly was. The world found out on one terrifying evening in 1974.
Just a few months after her wedding, the 23-year-old princess and her husband were returning to Buckingham Palace. Their limousine was suddenly blocked by another car. A man named Ian Ball got out and began shooting. He wounded her bodyguard, her chauffeur, and a nearby journalist. Then, he came to the princess’s door.
His plan was to kidnap her and demand a £2 million ransom. He told her, “I want you to come with me for a day or two.” He expected her to be terrified. He expected her to comply. He did not expect Princess Anne.
The Queen’s daughter looked him in the eye and replied: “Not bloody likely!”
What followed was not screams, but an argument. As her would-be kidnapper pleaded and threatened, Princess Anne simply refused to get out of the car. She calmly told him it was a “perfectly ridiculous idea.” While he was distracted, she seized her moment, opened the door on the other side, and rolled out of the car and onto the road, creating a diversion until police arrived.
Her coolness under the gun was astonishing. She didn’t wait to be rescued; she rescued herself with her pure, stubborn defiance. That night, the world saw the true character of Princess Anne. She wasn’t just a royal; she was a soldier in a tiara.
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