LONDON (AP) - A nurse who fell victim to a
prank telephone call seeking information about the Duchess of Cambridge's
pregnancy has died, a hospital said Friday.
Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found
dead early Friday at apartments affiliated with King Edward VII hospital in
central London,
where she worked for four years.
The death is being treated as
unexplained, but police did not find anything suspicious. It will be up to a
coroner to decide how she died.
2DayFM, the Australian station that
performed the prank early Tuesday, said in a statement posted on Facebook and
Twitter that two disc jockeys, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, would not
return to the station until further notice. They had apologized for the hoax
Wednesday.
Saldanha took the hoax call by the
pair, who impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles to elicit
information on the duchess, the hospital said. Saldanha later transferred the
call to the nurse caring for the duchess, who was admitted to the hospital
Monday with acute morning sickness.
"Our thoughts and deepest
sympathies at this time are with her family and friends," hospital chief
executive John Lofthouse said in a statement. "Everyone is shocked by the
loss of a much loved and valued colleague."
St. James's Palace, the office of
the duchess and her husband Prince William, also expressed sadness at the
death, but insisted that it had not complained about the hoax.
"On the contrary, we offered
our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all
times," the palace said in a statement.
Saldanha's family asked for privacy
in a statement issued through London
police.
"We as a family are deeply
saddened by the loss of our beloved Jacintha," the statement said.
During the hoax call, a woman using
the often-mimicked voice of Britain's
monarch asked about the duchess' health. She was told by the second nurse who
took the call from Saldanha that the duchess, the former Kate Middleton,
"hasn't had any retching with me and she's been sleeping on and off."
The nurse went on to tell the
personalities that the duchess had had an uneventful night, as a dog barking
sound was heard in the background. The alleged queen and prince talk about
traveling to the hospital to check in on the patient.
The hospital said it supported
Saldanha in the aftermath of the call and that its phone protocols were under
review.
The Australian station placed the
recording of the conversation on its website, but later said it was sorry.
"We were very surprised that
our call was put through. We thought we'd be hung up on as soon as they heard
our terrible accents," Greig and Christian said in a joint statement with
the station at the time. "We're very sorry if we've caused any issues and
we're glad to hear that Kate is doing well."
The station's chief executive
officer, Rhys Holleran, had spoken with the presenters after the nurse's death,
and that both were deeply shocked. The
hosts "have decided that they will not return to their radio show until further
notice out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy."
Christian's Twitter account has
since been taken down.
Officials from St. James's Palace
have said the duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. The child would be the
first for her and Prince William.
___
Associated Press writers Paisley
Dodds contributed to this story.
(Copyright
2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
