Skip to content
Entertainment
Link copied to clipboard

Nurse that connected Duchess crank call dies in suspected suicide

In this Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 file photo, Britain's Prince William stands next to his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge as she leaves the King Edward VII hospital in central London. Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their first child, and the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to hospital suffering from a severe form of morning sickness in the early stages of her pregnancy. King Edward VII hospital says a nurse involved in a prank telephone call to elicit information about the Duchess of Cambridge has died. The hospital said Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 that Jacintha Saldanha had been a victim of the call made by two Australian radio disc jockeys. They did not immediately say what role she played in the call. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
In this Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 file photo, Britain's Prince William stands next to his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge as she leaves the King Edward VII hospital in central London. Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their first child, and the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to hospital suffering from a severe form of morning sickness in the early stages of her pregnancy. King Edward VII hospital says a nurse involved in a prank telephone call to elicit information about the Duchess of Cambridge has died. The hospital said Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 that Jacintha Saldanha had been a victim of the call made by two Australian radio disc jockeys. They did not immediately say what role she played in the call. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)Read more
    by Mike Bertha, Philly.com, External or Unknown
    Published 

The woman who connected Australian crank callers pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles to the nurse tending to Kate Middleton at King Edward VII Hospital, has died in a suspected suicide. Two ambulances were dispatched to a central London residence where emergency personnel tried to revive her. Scotland Yard officers are treating the death as "unexplained," though one source reportedly told Daily Mail that the woman appeared to have committed suicide.

Two days earlier, DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian called the hospital pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles. Jacintha Saldanha—a nurse, wife and mother of two who was helping out on reception at the time—patched their call through to another nurse who, also falling for the trick, revealed personal health information about the Duchess. [h/t Daily Beast]

UPDATE: Mel Greig and Michael Christian have been taken off the air indefinitely. They've both deleted their Twitter accounts. The owners of the radio station released a statement that reads, in part, "Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) and 2Day FM are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII Hospital and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family, and all that have been affected by this situation around the world." [Daily Mail]