London (CNN) – A nurse at the hospital that was duped by a prank call from two Australian radio DJs concerning Prince William’s pregnant wife, Catherine, has apparently committed suicide, the hospital confirmed Friday.
The nurse “was recently the victim of a hoax call,” King Edward VII Hospital said in a media statement.
The DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles in the prank call, in which some details of the Duchess of Cambridge’s condition and care were given.
Hospital prank victim kills herself
The nurse who died was the person who first took the hoax call and transferred it through to Catherine’s ward, the hospital’s public relations company said.
The hospital named her as Jacintha Saldanha and said she had worked there for more than four years as an “excellent nurse,” who was well respected by co-workers.
The hospital “had been supporting her throughout this difficult time,” the statement said.
The Duchess of Cambridge was discharged from the hospital Thursday after treatment for acute morning sickness.
A St. James’s Palace spokesman said: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha.
“Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha’s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time.”
Separately, a palace spokesman told CNN: “At no point did the palace complain to the hospital about the incident. On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times.”
The hospital’s chief executive, John Lofthouse, said, “Everyone is shocked by the loss of a much loved and valued colleague.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said they were notified around 9:35 a.m. (4:35 a.m. ET) on Friday that a woman was found unconscious. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police are treating the death as “unexplained,” they said.
Audio of the call posted online suggested a woman spoke briefly to the DJs, who host a show for the 2Day FM radio station in Sydney, before the call was put through to the ward early Tuesday morning.
The hospital said Wednesday that it deeply regretted the call had been put through. Read more: Radio DJs pretend to be queen, make prank call to Catherine’s hospital
The radio show apologized for the call Wednesday, saying it “was done with light-hearted intentions.”
Its two DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, continued to tweet about the call on Thursday and earlier Friday, promising “more on the #royalprank.”
The Twitter accounts for the pair have now been taken down.
Talking about the call on air Thursday, Greig said: “They were the world’s worst accents ever. We were sure 100 people at least before us would’ve tried the same thing. … We were expecting to be hung up on – we didn’t even know what to say when we got through.”
Angry comments have been posted on the 2Day FM Facebook page since the news of the nurse’s death broke.
“This death is on your conscience,” reads one post. Another says, “Blood on your hands.”
The radio station has not yet responded to requests for comment
Re: Hospital Nurse From Catherine Hoax Commits Suicide
oh my god , this is awful news ..
but honestly speaking just a prank couldnt have caused this .. either the nurse feared losing her job or was under other personal pressures that she resorted to this ..
Re: Hospital Nurse From Catherine Hoax Commits Suicide
Lets face it, there was royal family’s security involved .. and we all know how the british never forgive even the tiniest things .. I am sure that the hospital administration must have put her under investigation and she couldnt take the pressure .. Now the hospital is trying to act all nice and moral ..
Re: Hospital Nurse From Catherine Hoax Commits Suicide
Sad news.
I however don’t blame the radio presenters. They did not know their prank would do this, anyone here who has worked in the NHS will know how strict talking about medical records is even with families of the sick.
They called her, taking their call talking to them would not have caused her to go and do this. Undoubtedly the Royal family whined about her and then she couldn’t take the pressure, possibly her being sacked, fined etc who knows.
The onus on the person to follow the correct procedure when dealing with medical records here was not on the radio hosts or the Royals, it was on the person, as heartless as this may seem. Had the hospital refused to give information about Kate to the radio hosts (like they should have) the call would have ended and that’d been that and the prank would have ended, and frankly what are the odds of impersonating the queen and being believed? We don’t know whether the hospital stressed to their staff and to her about following the correct procedures regarding confidentially esp where the royals are concerned and if they didn’t then they’re a disgrace
Sad news nonetheless. RIP and condolences to the family.
Re: Hospital Nurse From Catherine Hoax Commits Suicide
when he’s asked if he would do it again Michael avoids a straight answer but suggests that nobody could have predicted that this would be the outcome…
while I agree that they could not have foreseen someone killing themselves, when they planned this sort of prank they must have at least considered that in the off chance they are successful. they may be jeopardizing someone’s livelihood by getting them fired…
Re: Hospital Nurse From Catherine Hoax Commits Suicide
I heard on the news this morning that they two “shock jocks” were fired and that they may be facing criminal charges??? Also, the radio station has banned anytype of prank calling…they are facing the loss of many advertisers because of this stunt.. :no:
Re: Hospital Nurse From Catherine Hoax Commits Suicide
it was just a bit of banter that got out of hand. if the royal family wasnt involved she wouldnt have even made the news. She would have just been another statistic. At least we know the royal family are good for one thing - boosting BBC news ratings. Dont know but this nurse just came across as mentally unstable to have killed her self over a stupid little prank call. If it wasnt this, it would have been something else that sent her over the edge
Re: Hospital Nurse From Catherine Hoax Commits Suicide
I saw another part of this interview where Michael appears to “tear up” and looks away from the camera for a few seconds. Sadly it didn’t look very genuine.
Mel though, does come across a bit more real in her emotional state.
