Ex-policeman recalls night he was shot protecting princess from kidnappers

Published on Friday 18 August 2006 01:53

A FORMER royal protection officer has told how he was shot three times while confronting a gunman who tried to kidnap Princess Anne and demand a £2 million ransom.

Retired Chief Superintendent James Beaton, who is originally from Aberdeen, recalled how his gun jammed as he faced a hail of bullets in a late-night ambush in 1974.

Mr Beaton, then an inspector, was shot three times after would-be kidnapper Ian Ball blocked the royal limousine and attempted to grab the Princess Royal.

The bizarre plot failed and is perhaps best known for the Princess's reaction to Ball's request for her to get out so he could claim the money.

A briefing document prepared for Prime Minister Harold Wilson released last year revealed that she replied it was not "bloody likely; and I haven't got 2 million."

Now aged 63, recalled the night of March 20, 1974, for a dramatised TV documentary to be aired next week.

He said: "When I realised the gun had jammed I never really thought it was going to be the end for me really, I'm probably too dim and slow to think that.

"It never occurred to me."

Having been shot once in the chest, Mr Beaton threw himself into the back seat to shield the Princess and her husband Captain Mark Phillips and was shot twice more.

Speaking about the kidnap attempt, he said: "If he had thought about it a bit longer and let it go on a bit longer instead of rushing in and attempting to do it in the Mall, of all places, then he would have stood quite a good chance of getting away with it."

Mr Beaton, who was awarded the George Cross for his bravery, retired from the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department of the Metropolitan Police in 1993.

Ball pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnap and was imprisoned indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.

• To Kidnap A Princess will be screened on ITV1 on Monday at 9pm.