Chief Superintendent James Beaton GC CVO (born 1943) was The Queen's Police Officer from 1983 to 1992. He received the George Cross in 1974 for saving Princess Anne from the would-be kidnapper Ian Ball during an attack in The Mall. He also received the Director's Honor Award of the United States Secret Service in the same year. He was made an LVO in 1987 and a CVO in 1992.
Beaton served in the Metropolitan Police from 1962 to 1992. He spent his first few years as a constable on the beat at Notting Hill (1962 to 1966). In 1966 he became a sergeant at Harrow Road, and in 1971 a station sergeant at Wembley.
In March 1973 he was transferred to the Royalty Protection Squad, A Division, from 14 November as a Personal Protection Officer assigned to Princess Anne. He was given the number 11 in the small team responsible for protecting members of the Royal Family. In 1974, Princess Anne and her then husband Captain Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace from a royal engagement. The Royal Car was stopped in the Mall and a man, Ian Ball, later found to be mentally ill, jumped out and tried to drag the Princess from the car. He shot the Royal Chauffeur, Alex Callender, a passing journalist who tried to assist, and Inspector Beaton, who was wounded in the pelvis while trying to disarm Ball. For his bravery, Beaton was awarded the George Cross; the other two men were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal. Beaton remained with the Princess until February 1979. He became an Inspector in 1974, Chief Inspector in August 1979, Superintendent in 1983, and Chief Superintendent in 1985.
In 1982 he became the Queen's Police Officer, and retired in 1992, when he became a security manager.