Man who saved Princess Anne from armed kidnapper forced to sell bravery medal to pay for funeral

Former heavyweight boxer says he does not want friends and family to have to chip in after he dies

A former boxer who saved the Princess Royal from an armed kidnapper has been forced to sell his bravery medal to pay for his funeral.

Ronnie Russell said he didn’t want friends and family to have to chip in after he dies to fund his farewell.

The 72-year-old, who received £50,000 for the medal, was hailed a hero after he foiled an attempt to snatch Princess Anne from her car near Buckingham Palace in March 1974.

Ian Ball had ambushed the vehicle in The Mall and fired shots, wounding four people, including her bodyguard, when Mr Russell came across the scene as he was driving home from work.

The former heavyweight boxer, who is 6ft 2in and weighed 17 stone, found Ball trying to drag the princess from her car, and punched the attacker twice in the head.

The princess told Ball: “Just go away and don’t be such a silly man”, Mr Russell recalled.

“I lifted her up by her forearms, held her in front of me, and said ‘we’re going to walk away and he’s going to have to go through me to get you’,” he said.

It allowed police to overpower Ball, who had planned to ask the Queen for a £3m ransom.

In the confusion, Mr Russell was initially arrested but later released. As a thank you, the royal family paid off his mortgage.

He said that when he was awarded the George medal for bravery, the Queen told him: “This medal thanks you as the Queen, but I want to thank you as Anne’s mother.”

Mr Russell in 1974 (PA)

Ball was later sent to a psychiatric hospital by an Old Bailey judge.

Mr Russell, from Bristol, said he never expected any payment, but felt forced to sell his medal because had been unwell and in hospital on and off for some time.

A private collector in the UK bought it for more than double its expected sale price of £20,000.

“I felt it was a bit of a betrayal of the Queen by selling it but I had support from my family,” he said.

“For something I thought that I would never sell, I never believed it would sell for this amount.

“I am absolutely blown away with this price and it gives me opportunities to do things that I never thought we could.”

The sale also included a letter from 10 Downing Street informing Mr Russell of the award, a telegram from the princess and a letter from the Metropolitan Police commissioner.