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Princess Anne and her first husband Mark Phillips were the victims of an attempted kidnapping as they headed back to Buckingham Palace after an evening out in 1974. The couple’s car was forced to stop on the Mall after another vehicle cut it off and the driver jumped out threatening the Princess Royal and Captain Phillips with a gun. But Anne maintained her distinctive cool and attempted to reason with the aspiring kidnapper, Ian Ball, to inform him she was “not bl***y likely” to follow him.

Speaking to ITV documentary ‘Anne: The Princess Royal at 70’, the royal admitted she still remembers each moment of her exchange with Ball like “a photograph.”

She said: “What is interesting is what you remember and how you remember it, because although I thought I remembered everything that happened I would never have been able to swear I could remember in the right order

“Because they were like photos, individual snapshots. Very clearly.

“Strangely I had thought it before that, what would you do if.”

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The Princess Royal went on to suggest her experience in taking care and calming down horses had helped her keep her cool despite Ball threatening her with a gun.

She added: “One thing about horses and sport is you have to prepare for the unexpected and you’ve got to think through the problems that are likely to occur.

“I suppose that was the discipline which to some extent coloured my thought processes.

Ball had reportedly planned to ask for a £2 million ransom he claimed woudl be donated to the National Health Service but had not counted on the possibility of Anne resisting his attempts to snatch her.

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Jim Beaton, Princess Anne’s protection officer who got hurt during Ball’s attack, also shared his memories of the encounter with Ball.

Mr Beaton said: “There were a couple of short cracks so I took my pistol lifted it up and fired it in his direction but nothing happened, it obviously had jammed.

“I manage to get in the car and there was Ball with his gun, so I just stuck my hand in front of it.

“He fired, and it went through the window and into my hand.”

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He added: “Princess Anne, because she was so cool, calm and collected, I think it kept the situation in control.”

Journalist Brian McConnell, who had been passing nearby, attempted to intervene but was shot in the chest. He later recovered and was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.

Passersby Ron Russell tried to intervene by punching Ball in the back of the head, distracting him long enough to take Princess Anne away from the scene. The Queen later awared him the George Medal.

Inspector Beaton received the George Cross for his defence of the Princess Royal while Police Constable Michael Hills and chaffeur Alex Callander, who also intervened and were hurt in the confrontation with ball, received the George Medal and the Queen’s Gallantry Medal respectively.

Ball was arrested shortly after and he pleaded guilty for attempted murder and kidnapping.

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