A 1974 kidnap plot exposed deep flaws in
the security of Britain’s royals. Half a century on, the system it
disrupted remains stronger because of it. In the early 1970s, royal
security was less science than symbolism. Police officers in peaked
caps stood near palace gates. Detectives accompanied royals on
major public outings. But the notion that a direct, violent attack
could strike the…
On the night of March 20, 1974, Inspector
Jim Beaton – then a Metropolitan Police protection officer assigned
as a royal bodyguard – stepped out of a Royal limousine and into
history. “I’ve still got a bit of bullet lodged in my hand,” he
recalled in a…
Fifty years after one of the most
audacious attacks on the Royal Family, Ian Ball – the man who tried
to kidnap Princess Anne – walks free and insists he is innocent. It
was a quiet March evening in 1974 when Princess Anne, then just 23,
was being driven back…
The man who attempted to kidnap Princess
Anne at gunpoint more than 50 years ago has been quietly released
from a secure psychiatric hospital. Ian Ball, now 77, was released
from Broadmore Hospital in 2019, and has quietly been living in the
community since. The news has emerged following an interview he has
granted to the Daily Mail, in which he continues to protest his
innocence. Ball…
As the monarchy prepares, in time, for
the transition from King Charles III to his heir, the Prince of
Wales, questions of royal protocol and constitutional formality
inevitably begin to surface. Among them, one matter of subtle yet
significant consequence awaits a decision…
As the modern monarchy continues its
evolution under King Charles III, attention is already beginning to
turn toward the future reign of his heir, the Prince of Wales.
Among the constitutional considerations that will inevitably arise
is a delicate and significant decision…
He was the outsider who never truly felt
he belonged – a man of charm, culture, and conviction, who walked
several paces behind a Queen but longed, quietly and then not so
quietly, to be recognised as her equal. Prince Henrik of Denmark,
the French-born husband of Queen Margrethe II, stirred controversy
late in life when he declared he would not be buried beside his
wife in Roskilde…
Nestled amidst twelve acres of
meticulously tended gardens lies Ray Mill House, the discreet
country residence of Queen Camilla. The Grade II listed property,
located in the English countryside, has long been a private
sanctuary for the Queen Consort, far from the public eye…
While the titleQueen Consortis
well-established as the official designation for the wife of a
reigning king, the male equivalent –King Consort– is notably absent
from British royal tradition. Why does the monarchy have
aQueen…
As the Monarchy continues to evolve under
King Charles III, attention has inevitably turned toward the future
reign of his son, Prince William, the Prince of Wales. Among the
constitutional and ceremonial considerations that will arise with
this transition is the question of Queen Camilla’s future status.
When the reign of King Charles III concludes, what title will
Camilla bear? From Queen…
