Overview

• Ian Ball, freed on probation from Broadmoor Hospital in 2019 after over four decades of psychiatric detention, has released an autobiographical novel titled To Kidnap a Princess.
• In the book, Ball alleges the 1974 kidnapping attempt was a staged hoax involving a police officer who removed gunpowder from his bullets and substituted a double for Princess Anne.
• Royal security officials have been notified of Ball’s renewed public assertions and are reviewing his status under the Mental Health Act’s community risk provisions.
• Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on Ball’s memoir and his claims of innocence.
• Under his restriction order, Ball remains subject to periodic risk assessments and can be recalled to hospital if deemed an unmanageable threat.