An Aston Martin with a royal emblem rolls along the Mall in London towards Buckingham Palace on the evening of March 20, 1974. Sitting in the back seat are the Queen’s 23-year-old daughter Anne and her then-husband, 25-year-old officer Mark Phillips. Just the year before, the couple had married with great pomp. Shortly before the car reaches its destination, a white Ford Escort appears, overtaking the limousine and forcing it to stop. An armed man gets out.
Bild: APA/AFP/PA/STF
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Bild: APA/AFP/PA/STF
He wants to kidnap the princess in order to extort several million in ransom. And he means it.
He shoots four men who stand in his way. Anne remains calm about the whole incident. According to an eyewitness, she tells the kidnapper who tries to drag her out of the vehicle: “Go away, you silly man.” (“Go away, you silly man.”) She has retained the image of the cool princess to this day. The now 73-year-old sister of King Charles (75) is considered extremely dutiful in all matters.