London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Queen paid mortgage off for man who saved Princess Anne from abduction

A hero boxer who helped tackle a would-be kidnapper attempting to abduct Princess Anne had his mortgage paid off by the Queen as a thank you.

Ronnie Russell, 72, bravely intervened and punched Ian Ball twice in the head during a brazen attempt to snatch the princess at gunpoint yards from Buckingham Palace in 1974.

The former heavyweight was later presented with the George Medal by Her Majesty, who told him: ‘The medal is from the Queen, but I want to thank you as Anne’s mother.’

Mr Russell, from Bristol, is now in poor health after suffering several strokes and is reluctantly auctioning off the medal, tipped to fetch up to £20,000 to provide for his future.

The have-a-go-hero said: ‘It was something I said I would never, ever do. I am so proud and honoured to have done such a thing and be involved in it.

‘Whoever does eventually buy the medal, I would hope they might invite me somewhere to tell them an after-dinner story about what happened.’

Ball used his Ford Escort to block off the Rolls-Royce carrying a 24-year-old Princess Anne and her then husband Capt Mark Phillips as it drove back to the Palace along Pall Mall.

He then fired a series of shots through the rear window. The pair were unhurt but three others, including the princess’ personal detective, were wounded.

Mr Russell, who was 6ft 2ins, 17st and had trained at the same gym as the Kray twins, was making his way home from his job as a cleaning manager when he came across the drama unfolding.

He said he spotted Ball trying to drag Princess Anne from her car while her husband was desperately trying to cling on to her.

The boxer said: ‘She was very, very together, telling him, “Just go away and don’t be such a silly man”.

‘He stood there glaring at me with the gun and I hit him. I hit him as hard as I could – if he had been a tree he would have fallen over – and he was flat on the floor face down.’

Mr Russell has since revealed that police paid him a visit before he received his medal.

He told the Daily Mirror: ‘They were looking round my home and saying, “Oh this is a nice house”.

‘They asked if I had a mortgage and I said, “Yes, yes, why?”

‘They said, “Well we are really telling you this a bit early but the Queen is going to pay off your mortgage as a gift for what you have done”.

‘I thought that was wonderful. I was actually close to repossession at the time. They were going to repossess my home. So I dug myself out of that one.’

The Mirror quoted Buckingham Palace as saying the Queen’s gift would have come from her private funds.

Mr Russell’s medal will be auctioned at Dix Noonan Webb in London next month.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×