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A Look Back at Princess Anne's Attempted Kidnapping 50 Years Later


Princess Anne was the victim of a kidnapping attempt in 1974, during which assailant Ian Ball shot four people trying to protect her

On the evening of March 20, 1974, Anne and her then-husband, Mark Phillips, were heading back to Buckingham Palace after a charity event when a Ford Escort overtook their car and forced them to a stop. One of the biggest royal scandals in recent memory came when King Charles III and the late Princess Diana announced their separation in 1992 after 10 years of marriage. For Beaton’s defense of Anne, the queen awarded him the George Cross, which recognizes acts of extreme bravery carried out by civilians and military personnel when not in the presence of an enemy.

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