OTD: Anniversary of Anne's Kidnap Attempt
The Dramatic Struggle to Keep a Princess Safe from a Kidnapper
I was reminded that today is the anniversary of the kidnapping attempt on Princess Anne, The Princess Royal. Though many people know about the attempt, few people know the dramatic, and dangerous, details. I thought I’d share some articles on that night for anyone interested in more reading.
It was 49 years ago, just after 8pm on the 20th of March, 1974. But the details of Scotland Yard’s investigation were only released after 30 years, in 2005.
One of the best complete reads I’ve found is from Smithsonian Magazine:
The Bloody Attempt to Kidnap a British Princess | History| Smithsonian Magazine
“A bearded man with light red hair exited the car and, holding two handguns, charged towards the rear of the limo.
He turned to the rear door behind the driver’s seat and started shaking it. Anne sat on the other side.
“Open, or I’ll shoot!” he yelled.
He had “two pairs of handcuffs, Valium tranquilizers, and a ransom letter addressed to the Queen.
Papers reported that one line of the letter read “Anne will be shot dead.”
There were several heroes that night (including Anne herself!) one was a former heavyweight boxer who just happened to be passing the scene, and thought, at first, that a policeman was in trouble. He ended up knocking out the kidnapper with two punches, when he realised he was trying to grab The Queen’s daughter.
The story of boxer Ron Russell is here. My favourite anecdote from the event might be from Russell, who was later awarded the George Medal by Queen Elizabeth II. She told him as she presented it:
“The medal is from The Queen, the thank you is from Anne’s mother.”
And finally, The Times recently republished its original reporting from that night:
“No fewer than 12 shots were fired, but only one came from the royal bodyguard.
The gunfight in the Mall on Wednesday evening has led to some hard questions being asked. It has become clear from information openly talked about since Princess Anne resumed her engagements on Friday that her escape in the Mall was even more remarkable than the public was first led to believe.”
You can read the news article from 1974 here:
Princess Anne grabbed by arm in Mall kidnap attempt | The Sunday Times (archive.is)
Remarkable that The Princess Royal stayed as calm and collected as she did, given that she was still a young woman, just 23 years old. And, worth noting, she still only has police protection on official duty, not round-the-clock, as others are requesting!
A reminder that this week we’ll be continuing our Coronation series, with an article on King Charles III and his lifetime of work on the environment. That article will post by Wednesday, and I’ll also be posting regular highlights of his work on Twitter all week!
As always, thanks for reading! Next up, The Earth King.