A medal awarded to a former heavyweight boxer for helping to thwart the attempted kidnapping of Queen Elizabeth II's daughter Anne sold for 50,000 pounds (USD 64,000, 57,900 euros) at an auction on Wednesday.
Ronnie Russell was given the George Medal -- Britain's highest civilian award for bravery -- for punching assailant Ian Bell twice in the head when he tried to seize Princess Anne in 1974.
The burly former fighter, 72, put the award up for sale to pay for funeral costs after falling ill.
The medal had been expected to fetch up to 20,000 pounds when it went under the hammer at London auction house Dix Noonan Webb. But a private collector bought it for 50,000 pounds.
"For something I thought that I would never sell, I never believed it would sell for this amount," Russell said after the sale.
"I am absolutely blown away with this price and it gives me opportunities to do things that I never thought we could."
The queen told Russell when he received the award: "The medal is from the Queen but I want to thank you as Anne's mother."
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