All language subtitles for Infamous Assassinations s01e02 Princess Anne

March the 20th, 1974, London, 7 .45pm.

Just 400 yards short of Buckingham
Palace, a small white car suddenly cuts

front of a royal limousine, bringing it
to an abrupt halt with a screech of

brake.

A man brandishing a gun leaps out and
moves towards the limousine, shooting as

he does so.

His target, the Queen's only daughter,
Princess Anne.

Although members of the British royal
family are among the most famous people

the world, during the early 1970s, their
personal security is not considered

much of an issue when they're out and
about in public.

In fact, leading politicians are
probably better protected.

But no matter how popular the royal
family might be, there's always a chance

that out there is a lone madman who
wishes them harm.

And on the evening of March 20th, 1974,
in the heart of London, Princess Anne

comes face to face with such a person.

Princess Anne was born on August 15th,
1950, the second child of Princess

Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

At the time of her birth, she is third
in line to the throne, behind her mother

and elder brother, Prince Charles.

However, when Elizabeth becomes Queen in
1952, on the death of her father,

George VI, Anne moves up into second
place.

Following private tuition at Buckingham
Palace in September 1963, Anne, now aged

13, is sent to an exclusive all -girls
boarding school, Benenden.

in Kent.

She begins undertaking public duties,
still a teenager, in the late 1960s, and

is soon clocking up around 500
engagements a year.

As she does so, Anne develops a
reputation not only as one of the most

-working, but also as probably one of
the most plain -speaking and down -to

-earth members of the royal family.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the
tracks, Ian Ball, A highly disturbed

man in his early 20s is living alone in
a rented room in West London, scraping a

living doing odd jobs, even at one time
working for an undertaker.

He finds it difficult to make friends
and spends most of his spare time

television.

By 1971, he's working as a van driver
for a West End film company.

Even though he doesn't get on
particularly well with his colleagues,

the job.

It gives him time to think while out on
the road.

He's desperate to make something of
himself, but lacks any kind of skill or

intellectual ability.

So he carries on drifting, until, out of
nowhere, he begins to fantasize about

kidnapping a member of the British royal
family and holding them to ransom.

But Ball can't decide which one to go
for.

Then... As he's watching television one
night, he sees Princess Anne in a riding

competition.

This is it, he thinks.

She'll be the target.

All he needs now is the opportunity.

As the kidnap plan begins to develop in
his fevered mind, Ball begins reading

everything he can on the royal family,
especially the princess.

He also makes up his mind that once he's
got her under lock and key,

He will kill her if his demands are not
met.

But in order to kidnap Anne and kill
her, if necessary,

Ball needs a weapon.

So he takes a plane from London's
Heathrow Airport and flies to Madrid in

Here he buys two handguns as well as a
plentiful supply of ammunition.

One is a nine -shot .22 Caddix.

The other a five -shot .38 caddy.

Ball then returns to London, walking
calmly through the airport with the guns

and ammunition hidden in his case.

And as luggage is not x -rayed at the
time, no one challenges him.

Once Ball gets back home, he hides the
guns.

He also buys three pairs of steel
handcuffs.

and hides them as well.

Now all he has to do is bide his time,
waiting for the right opportunity.

But first he must change his identity.

He gets the idea from the best -selling
thriller The Day of the Jackal by

Frederick Forsyth, reading it and re
-reading it time and time again.

Ball decides to change his name to John
Williams.

and in order to make the switch more
authentic, takes a driving test, even

though he's held a full license for the
last four years.

He passes the test with flying colors,
and is issued with a new license bearing

his new name.

He also opens a new bank account, puts
the guns in a safety deposit box, and

gets a new passport.

Then, in early March 1974, Ball, now age
26, rents a house in the small town

of Fleet, Hampshire.

This is where he intends keeping
Princess Anne prisoner until the ransom

paid.

It's not far from the Royal Military
College at Sandhurst, where his target

now living.

Anne is married to a young army officer,
Captain Mark Phillips.

with whom she shares a love of horses
and competitive riding at the highest

level.

In fact, by the time she marries,
Princess Anne has already won various

and international events.

The fairytale wedding took place on
November 14, 1973, at London's

Abbey, before a congregation of around 1
,800 guests.

The elaborate ceremony is also watched
by a worldwide television audience of

more than 500 million people.

The following day, the couple fly to
Barbados, where they join the royal

Britannia and embark on a honeymoon
cruise in the Caribbean.

Two weeks later, Princess Anne and Mark
Phillips return home to a round of

public duties and appointments.

In the new year of 1974,

They accompany the Queen and the Duke of
Edinburgh on a state visit to

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
Islands.

When this is over, and Mark Phillips has
been posted to the Royal Military

College at Sandhurst as an instructor,
they move into a house in the college's

extensive grounds.

Later, Princess Anne and her husband
will move again, but this time to a

beautiful country mansion, Gatcombe Park
in Gloucestershire.

a wedding present from the Queen.

But for now, she's quite happy at
Sandhurst.

However, little could the couple have
realized that just five weeks after they

move in, something will happen which
will not only change their lives, but

of every other member of the royal
family as well.

March the 13th, 1974.

Having checked Princess Anne's
forthcoming engagements with the

Palace press office, Ian Ball is now
just days away from embarking on one of

most audacious acts in British criminal
history.

He retrieves his guns from the bank's
safety deposit box.

He also hires a typewriter. He has a
very important letter to write.

March 20th, the Mall, London, 5pm.

A white Ford Escort is parked close to
Buckingham Palace.

The driver is Ian Ball, and he's waiting
for Princess Anne and Mark Phillips.

Buckingham Palace, 5 .30pm.

Ball's patience is rewarded as he
watches the royal couple's limousine

and head down the mall.

They're on their way to a screening of
Riding Towards Freedom.

A film made on behalf of the Riding for
the Disabled Association, of which Anne

is patron.

Both Princess Anne and Phillips feature
in a number of scenes.

It's being shown at Sudbury House, near
Ludgate Circus, in the financial heart

of London.

Sudbury House, Ludgate Circus, 6pm.

Ball arrives at Sudbury House and parks
his car outside, waiting for the couple

to emerge.

7 .30 p .m.

Princess Anne and Mark Phillips,
accompanied by their police bodyguard,

Inspector James Beaton, and Lady Rowena
Brassy, Anne's lady -in -waiting, leave

the building and get into their car.

It's driven by 55 -year -old Alexander
Calland.

The traffic is not particularly heavy,
and the limousine is soon cutting

Admiralty Arch towards Horse Guards
Parade and the mall.

Neither Callender nor any of his
passengers noticed the small white Ford

following close behind.

It's Ian Ball, and he's been tailing the
Royal car since it left Sudbury House.

7 .45 p .m.

Approximately halfway along the mall,
less than 400 yards from Buckingham

Palace, Ball sees his truck, overtakes
the Royal car, and cuts in front.

forcing it to brake violently and veer
to the left.

Thirty -year -old Royal Bodyguard
Inspector Beaton, who's sitting in the

passenger seat, instinctively realises
something is horribly wrong and reaches

for his gun.

Without a police escort and no radio in
the Royal car, he knows he's on his own.

Ball flings his car door open and leaps
out, brandishing the .38 handgun.

He lets off a shot.

Beaton jumps out, runs round the back of
the Royal car, and rushes Ball in an

attempt to disarm.

Ball shoots him at point -blank range.

Although wounded, Beaton manages to fire
back, but his aim is shaky, and he

misses.

He tries again, but his gun jams.

Now Ball pulls open the door of the
limousine, leans in and grabs Anne's

He tells her to get into his car.

She refuses.

As this is going on, Rowena Bradley
opens the door on her side and stumbles

falling face down.

By this time, Ball is furious and
threatens to shoot Anne if Beaton

throw down his gun.

Ball then produces his .22 pistol and
raises it.

As he does so, Beaton puts his hand in
front of the muzzle and is shot for the

second time.

But he still won't give up. He tries to
seize Ball and is shot yet again, this

time more seriously, in the stomach.

Ball then shoots Callan, the Royal
Chauffeur, at point -blank range in the

as he starts getting out of the car.

after refusing to turn off the still
-running engine.

The whole thing is witnessed by
horrified onlookers, as well as a 46

Fleet Street journalist, Brian
McConnell, who'd been close behind the

in a taxi.

As the taxi halts, McConnell gets out
and approaches Ball, trying to reason

him. He says, Look, old man, these are
friends of mine.

Give me the gun.

He's shot in the chest.

Now, 26 -year -old Ron Russell, a 6
-foot -4 -inch tall ex -boxer, on his

back from work as manager of an office
cleaning company, arrives on the scene.

He sees what's going on and pulls his
car across Ball, thus cutting off his

of escape.

As he gets out, Ball fires at him,
misses him by millimetres, with the

shattering a nearby taxi windscreen.

Ball also fires at and hits 22 -year
-old police constable Michael Hills as

runs towards him.

The bullet hits Hills' notebook and
punches into his liver, where it's

this day.

Russell then swings at Ball, hitting him
on the back of the head.

Ball knows the game is up. He must now
try and escape.

Although wounded, Hills manages to call
for backup on his radio.

The message is picked up by Detective
Constable Peter Edmonds.

He heads over to the mall at top speed.

As he slews his car to a halt, he sees a
man holding a gun running hard across

St. James's Park.

It's ball.

24 -year -old Edmonds catches up and
brings him down with a rugby tackle.

During his frenzied attempt to abduct
Princess Anne and hold her to ransom,

fires a total of 11 shots from his two
handguns, badly wounding three men.

The whole affair lasts just ten minutes.

As the injured men are rushed to
hospital, a police car takes Anne and

on to Buckingham Palace.

Police continue to question passing
motorists as Anne phones her parents.

who are on a state visit to Indonesia.

And because she wants her immediate
family to know before it hits the

Anne also phones her brother, Prince
Charles, a Royal Navy officer, on board

ship HMS Jupiter in San Diego,
California.

As she does so, the search in and around
St. James's Park gets underway.

It will continue throughout the night.

When dawn breaks the following day, all
the vehicles involved in the attack are

still in the same position.

The glass -strewn floor in the rear of
Anne's car clearly shows how close she

came to being hit by the flying bullets.

One, as indicated here, penetrates a
window frame just millimeters from where

the princess was sitting.

As the cars are removed for further
examination,

it's realised that Princess Anne has had
a very narrow escape.

March 21st, 1974.

The story of the attempt to kidnap
Princess Anne now goes round the world.

While searching Ian Ball's car, police
find a long, rambling letter he'd

addressed to the Queen, demanding a £3
million ransom for Anne's safe return.

He says the money should be in five
-pound notes packed in a number of

cases, taken to London's Heathrow
Airport in a police car, and put on a

bound for Zurich in Switzerland.

He wants the Queen to meet him on the
plane and provide him with a sample

signature to prove her identity.

In addition, Ball demands a free pardon
for any offence he might commit, from

parking to murder.

In conclusion, Ball chillingly states
that unless his demands are met, he will

kill the princess.

The day after the attack, Ball is taken
to Bow Street Magistrates' Court, where

he's charged with the attempted murder
of Anne's personal detective, James

Beaton.

Surprisingly, he's not charged with
anything directly regarding the

After a hearing lasting just two and a
half minutes, he's remanded in custody.

Towards the end of May, Princess Anne
visits Westminster Hospital, where the

injured in her defence, journalist Brian
McConnell, Constable Michael Hills and

Inspector James Beaton, are still
recovering from their injuries.

Later, Beaton recalls that fateful night
in the mall, when... In trying to

protect his royal charge, Princess Anne,
he came so very close to losing his own

life. I took my gun out to fire, and
then Marr came down and I realised I'd

shot in the right shoulder.

And then I went behind the car and tried
to get a two -handed method, and he'd

gone down and chatted my way back into
the car.

So I got sort of between him and
Princess Anne.

A subsequent Scotland Yard inquiry
concluded that Paul had acted alone.

At his old Bailey trial, where he pleads
guilty to attempted kidnap and murder,

it's revealed he's been diagnosed as a
schizophrenic.

But this hadn't prevented him from
planning his attack in meticulous

He's sentenced to life imprisonment.

and detained under the Mental Health Act
at Broadmoor Hospital, where he remains

to this day.

In 1983, Ball writes a letter to the
then Labour Member of Parliament for

East, James Lamond, claiming that the
kidnap attempt had been no more than an

elaborate hoax, designed to get
publicity for his autobiography.

He also claims that he'd been framed for
the attack on Anne, and that he had

been physically assaulted while in
custody.

In 2005, British government papers
relating to the affair are released from

National Archives under the 30 -year
rule.

In her own account given to officials at
the time, Anne writes, It was all so

infuriating. I kept saying I didn't want
to get out of the car, and I was not

going to get out of the car.

I nearly lost my temper with him, but I
knew that if I did, I should hit him,

and he would shoot me.

Prime Minister Harold Wilton is clearly
impressed, saying that Anne had behaved

with quite extraordinary courage and
presence of mind.

At the top of the release document, he
writes, A very good story.

Pity the palace can't let it come out.

Perhaps it will in court.

When he hears of the kidnap attempt,
Anne's father, the Duke of Edinburgh, is

reported to have remarked, If the man
had succeeded in abducting Anne, she

have given them a hell of a time in
captivity.

Once they're fully recovered from their
injuries, Royal Protection Officer

Inspector James Beaton and Constable
Michael Hills are soon back on duty,

they join Detective Constable Peter
Edmonds, who prevented Ian Ball's

Later, together with everyone else
involved in the kidnap attempt, they're

invited to Buckingham Palace.

where they're thanked personally by the
Queen and presented with awards for

gallantry.

Inspector Beaton, the most badly injured
of them all, receives the George Cross,

the highest civilian award for bravery.

Hills and Russell get the George Medal,
while Callander, McConnell and Edmonds

are given the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

They had thwarted the closest anyone has
ever come to kidnapping a member of the

British royal family.

as well as shielding her from the flying
bullets, which could have killed or

badly injured her at any time.

Ron Russell, who blocked Ball's car with
his own, recalls how he felt when he

came on the scene.

One of shock and disbelief, but really
to do my duty to

the Crown.

Princess Anne herself is made a Dame
Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian

the Queen's personal order of chivalry.

Phillips is created a commander, and
Lady Brassy becomes a member of the

Victorian Order.

The kidnap attempt throws the security
of the royal family into sharp focus.

As it's realized how close Ball had come
to succeeding in kidnapping Princess

Anne, the government orders an immediate
and urgent review.

Before long, all royal protection
officers are undergoing rigorous

the hands of the SAF at their Hereford
HQ.

This includes armed and unarmed combat,
as well as dealing with a hostage

situation.

Occasionally, even members of the royal
family are included.

And because the Wolfram PP 9mm automatic
pistol used by Inspector Beaton and his

bodyguard jammed when he needed it most,
royal protection officers are now

issued with Smith & Wesson handguns
instead.

There is no longer room for complacency,
even though a female member of the

royal family has not been shot at since
June 3rd, 1939, when a man fires a sawn

-off shotgun at the Duchess of Kent as
she leaves her house in Belgrave Square,

London.

He misses, and it's not until hours
later, when she returns, does the

hear she'd been the target of an
assassin.

Much earlier, on March 2nd, 1882, A man
named Roderick Maclean fires a pistol at

Queen Victoria, Anne's great -great
-great -grandmother, while she's in her

carriage near Windsor Station.

But as he shoots, he's knocked off
balance by two Eton schoolboys wielding

umbrellas. On June 13th, 1981, seven
years after the attack on Princess Anne,

Marcus Sargent, an unemployed 17 -year
-old youth, aimed six shots at her

mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

while she takes part in the Trooping the
Colour ceremony.

He's firing blanks, but no -one realises
it at the time.

The same thing happens to the Prince of
Wales in Sydney, Australia, on January

26th, 1994, as he's about to make a
speech on an open -air stage.

His assailant, student David Dang, is
quickly overpowered.

He said he did it to draw attention to
the plight of the Cambodian boat people.

Back in London, Prince Charles' sister,
Princess Anne, gives her reaction to the

incident.

I think it's a permanent possibility,
I'm afraid, and you just have to live

it.

Ironically, Brian McConnell, the
journalist injured in the attempt to

Princess Anne, had, in 1969, written a
book entitled Assassination.

In it, he states, to Britain, the
fascination is a foreign word, a foreign

But never in his wildest dreams could
McConnell have imagined that just five

years later, he would play a key role in
thwarting the closest anyone has ever

come to kidnapping a leading member of
the British royal family.

A shocking crime which could have ended
in her death.

So it's not surprising that even today,
Ian Ball, the perpetrator, remains

firmly locked away.