Sian Williams has detailed how she fainted while presenting live at an important royal occasion attended by a then-Prince Charles and his two sons Prince William and Prince Harry. The broadcast journalist was leading the coverage from the opening of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in London’s Hyde Park in 2004 when she collapsed with stress.
Speaking to The Times, Sian – who was a familiar face on the BBC from 2001 to 2012 – has explained how she fainted after sitting on a stool in a marquee for hours on the hot summer’s day. She said that the camera cut away just in time so that the millions watching at home were none the wiser.
The presenter, then 40, explained how she had been forced to fill time while waiting for the royal family to arrive – notably, the late Queen Elizabeth, who officially opened the project – however she was eventually left with nothing to speak to the camera about. Her stress levels spiked, causing her vision to become blurred and her speech to become incoherent.
Sian, now 61, lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, with a fast-moving producer switching the feed to then-royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell, who was elsewhere on the site. She told The Times about how coming round after a few minutes, and then eating some custard creams, meant she could continue the programme.
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesThe moving 2004 event was attended by a then-Prince Charles and his sons Prince William and Prince Harry
She recalled: “I thought, get off the floor, get back on the stool. Do the job that you’re here to do, Sian, because there are millions of people watching.” The event was incredibly high-profile – coming seven years after the then-Princess of Wales’ untimely death and with her sons, then aged 22 and 20, present.
Sian, who cites the experience of severe anxiety getting out of control as one of the reasons why she retrained and qualified as a chartered counselling psychologist in 2021, continued: “I also thought, I hope nobody ever, ever finds out about this – I mustn’t tell anyone.”
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesThe official opening, which was also attended by Queen Elizabeth, brought the Spencer and Windsor families together
© BBC News & Current Affairs via GSian (pictured in 2004) was a familiar face on the BBC between 2001 and 2012
The mother-of-four, who now styles herself as a ‘Dr’, added: “It can be hard to reveal yourself to other people when you think you’ve failed in case that’s the end for you. I think I would absolutely be much kinder to myself now.” She was speaking to promote her new book The Power of Anxiety: How to Ride the Worry Wave.
Diana memorial
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain was built in dedication to the late Princess of Wales, who tragically died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. Construction began on the fountain, which is positioned just south of the Serpentine lake, in 2001.
© Getty ImagesThe memorial to Princess Diana (pictured in 2017) is located in Hyde Park
For the first time in seven years, the Windsors and Spencers were brought together in public. Also in attendance were the late Prince Philip, as well as Diana’s brother Charles Spencer and her sisters Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale.