As radio pranks go, it was an irreverent
on-air fare: Two DJs, impersonating Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, trick a
nurse to get details about the hospitalization of Prince William's pregnant
wife.
A nurse who was a victim of the stunt,
Jacintha Saldanha, apparently committed suicide Friday, King Edward VII
Hospital said in a statement
The fallout from Saldanha's death has
stretched the globe -- from Britain to Australia, with questions being raised
about how far is too far in the effort to find out details about the Duchess of
Cambridge's pregnancy.
"Pranksters Face World Fury,"
screams the front-page headline of the UK's Daily Mirror, while Daily Telegraph
columnist Bryony Gordon said it was "not so funny to hear two grown adults
call up a hospital ward full of sick people to try to scam information about
one of them."
The two Australian DJs, Mel Greig and
Michael Christian, behind the practical joke are under fire, with some using
the phrase "blood on your hands" to condemn their actions on the
Sydney-based radio station 2DayFM.
The DJs have since apologized, and
"mutually decided" to go off the air for an undetermined period, Rhys
Holleran, CEO of the Southern Cross Austereo media group, said Saturday during
a news conference.
Holleran said he was "very confident
that we haven't done anything illegal."
"This is a tragic event that could not
have been reasonably foreseen and we are deeply saddened by it," he said.
News of Saldanha's death broke Friday
morning, with the hospital saying she "was recently the victim of a hoax
call."
London's Metropolitan Police said they were
notified Friday morning 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 suggests a
woman spoke briefly to the DJs before she put the call through to the ward
where Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, was being treated early Tuesday
morning for acute morning sickness.
Throughout the controversy surrounding the
hoax, authorities did not identify the nurse. Her identity was released after
her death.
"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," Greig told listeners Thursday.
Once off the air, Greig and Christian
tweeted about the practical joke on Thursday and earlier Friday, promising
"more on the #royalprank." The pair's Twitter accounts were taken
down late Friday.
Some listeners applauded the prank, like
one who identified himself as Guido on the station's Facebook page and wrote,
"It is only a joke people! it was great i love it!!!"
Others were outraged, with such negative
comments outnumbering positive ones on 2DayFM's Facebook page before the
nurse's death.
"Your stunt was done at a time in this
country where there is paranoia about the intrusion of the media into people's
lives," Gary Slenders wrote. "I know you will say it is harmless fun,
the management of 2DayFM will say that it won't happen again, but this exactly
where the phone hacking scandal started."
The outcry grew exponentially after the
hospital confirmed Saldanha's death, leading the Coles supermarket chain to
remove all its advertising from 2DayFM.
"This death is on your
conscience," reads one Facebook post. Several accused the two of having
"blood on your hands."
Saldanha's family released a statement
asking for privacy and directing questions to police. She is survived by her
husband and two children.
"We as a family are deeply saddened by
the loss of our beloved Jacintha," said the statement, released by police.
Saldanha, 46, worked at the King Edward VII
Hospital for more than four years, and she was described as an "excellent
nurse," well-respected by co-workers, the hospital statement said.
The hospital "had been supporting her
throughout this difficult time," it said.
A St. James's Palace spokesman said:
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the
death.
"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 said Wednesday that it deeply
regretted the call had been put through.
The hospital is known for treating royals.
In June, Prince Philip, 91, was admitted to the same hospital with a bladder
infection, forcing him to miss part of the queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration.
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