Man Accused of Attempted Princess Anne Kidnapping Claims Innocence and Conspiratorial Motives

The man accused of attempting to abduct Princess Anne remains free and is actively seeking to prove his innocence. Ian Ball, who was just 26 at the time of the incident, stalked the princess and ambushed her limousine on London's Pall Mall, firing at four men who tried to intervene. Princess Anne's defiant response to Ball's demand for her exit, reportedly saying, "Not bloody likely!" garnered global attention. After Anne and her lady-in-waiting exited the vehicle from the opposite side, a passerby—a former boxer—intervened by punching Ball and safely escorting the princess away. Following a police pursuit, Ball was apprehended. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping but was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and detained under the Mental Health Act, spending 45 years in psychiatric hospitals until his release in 2019. Now 77, Ball has published a book claiming to clear his name and has given an interview to the Daily Mail, asserting the kidnapping attempt was a stunt. He claims he believed the gunpowder was removed from the bullets and that a different girl had been substituted for Princess Anne, asserting his innocence and blaming the "upper classes" and the late ...