Anne reunited with kidnap bid hero

The Princess Royal met the Royal Protection Officer who saved her from kidnap more than 30 years ago.

Princess Anne was briefly reunited with Jim Beaton, a former Metropolitan Police inspector, who was shot three times as he put himself between Anne and a gunman during the failed kidnap bid in 1974.

Mr Beaton, who wore the George Cross he was awarded for his actions, said the Princess had “not changed a bit” since the night of the attack outside Buckingham Palace.

The royal’s Rolls-Royce was blocked off as it drove down the Mall and four people were wounded as Ian Ball, a mentally ill man, opened fire with a revolver.

Mr Ball was tackled by another police officer and Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips escaped unhurt.

The Princess was greeted by Mr Beaton as she entered the Imperial War Museum to open the Extraordinary Heroes exhibit, a collection of artefacts telling the story behind 240 Victoria and George Crosses.

Mr Beaton, 67, said: “I was just sort of doing what I was paid for as a policeman. I rarely think about it now, it’s too far in the past.”

He said: “It was excellent to see the Princess, she’s looking lovely. She has not changed a bit.

“She’s still the same pleasant, very professional woman she was all those years ago.”

Mr Beaton, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, was at the time the only officer assigned to protect the Princess and today smiled as he noted how many bodyguards accompanied her to the opening of the exhibit.

He said: “I was the only one then and now there’s a whole team of them. That’s a big change”

The Princess was introduced by Sir Peter Squire, chairman of the trustees of the Imperial War Museum, who said to her: “Many will remember that you yourself were involved in an incident leading to the presentation of the George Cross.

“Inspector James Beaton GC will certainly recall the circumstances very clearly.”

To laughter from guests, the Princess Royal said: “May I say I am extremely grateful that no other more senior member of my family was available to do this tonight, this is a privilege.”

Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative Party donor who funded the exhibition, spoke of the bravery of those who had been awarded the decorations.

He said: “You can’t measure it, you can’t bottle and you certainly can’t buy it yet those who display it are quite rightly looked up to by others and admired by society.”