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Radio Station That Pranked Kate Middleton’s Hospital Says Backlash Is ‘Unfair’ After Nurse’s Death

Dec. 9, 2012 12:44pm Madeleine Morgenstern

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A spokeswoman for the Australian radio station whose hosts prank called a U.K. hospital about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge said it has received “unfair” backlash after a hospital nurse duped by the duo apparently committed suicide.

Sandy Kaye, a spokeswoman for Southern Cross Austereo, told the Daily Telegraph it “feels as through the British media are on a witch hunt” for DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian and 2DayFM.

“It is quite easy to blame us…The Australian industry seems to sit quite fairly behind us. Prank calls have been going on for 50 years in the radio industry. It is not designed to humiliate or embarrass. All protocols were followed to the letter. It was only supposed to be a harmless prank,” Kaye told the newspaper.

Greig and Christian called the hospital on the air last week pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and spoke to a nurse who said the former Kate Middleton “hasn’t had any retching with me and she’s been sleeping on and off” during her hospital stay for acute morning sickness.

Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who first took the call and transferred it to the nurse caring for the duchess, is suspected to have taken her own life Friday.

British police have contacted Australian authorities about a possible investigation, the Associated Press reported. King Edward VII’s Hospital called the situation “tragic beyond words” in a letter to the chairman of the radio station’s owner Saturday.

Southern Cross Austereo chairman Max Moore-Wilton, which owns 2DayFM, said Sunday the company would cooperate with any investigation. Both DJs have been taken off the air indefinitely.

“It is too early to know the full details leading to this tragic event and we are anxious to review the results of any investigation that may be made available to us or made public,” Moore-Wilton wrote. “I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved.”

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Comments (111)

SolitudeBliss
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:45pm
Shame that the nurse was so fragile (and I’m sure there was more going on in her life) that she ended it all. Having said that, and reading some of the comments, it’s just further evidence of the wussification of society. If people cannot take being called names or falling victim to a prank how on earth will they ever survive LIFE !!!! Whoever told these people that Life is a bed of roses with rainbows and whiskers of kittens and yellow brick roads never told them that there is a Hard side to life too. Illnesses, Financial woes, Death, Addictions, etc are an everyday thing. Do we ban bankruptcies when a person commits suicide because they lost their job and went bankrupt? Do we ban relationships when someone kills themselves after a breakup? I saw a bumper sticker years ago that has stayed with me. Life a Virgin, if it were a bitch it’d be easy.
FREE SPEECH Don’t like it. Tough

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:55pm
  Amen brother !
  
  Report this comment
- SolitudeBliss
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 3:01pm
  DADROCKED – That would be Amen Sister :-)
  
  Report this comment
- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 3:14pm
  SolitudeBliss – I stand corrected… 8-)
  
  Report this comment
- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 3:18pm
  SolitudeBliss – reminds me of a time when I coached a girls softball team… “…gather up guys.” Everyone except my catcher gatered up… I walked to her asked why she wasn’t joining up with the team… “Coach, you said gather up guys and I’m A GIRL.”
  Years have passed and I’ve yet to forget her but I guess that I forgot the lesson that that twelve year old taught me.
  
  Report this comment
- dimart
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 12:46am
  Lying about who you are is not FREE SPEECH! And just like elections, actions have consequences.
  
  Report this comment
SamIamTwo
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:45pm
Meh, a bully is a bully no matter what resource they use to conduct their bulling efforts.

They need to get back to the HS play ground, where they no longer put up with prank bulling.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:55pm
  I may be reading you wrong but the way I read you is as SolitudeBliss states above…”…just further evidence of the wussification of society.”
  I hope that is not the case… If so than you are just another example of the “wussifaction”.
  
  Report this comment
shagstar
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:44pm
all you armchair lawyers got it all figured out,,don’t cha?
if the woman never died,,this would be a great prank but,,since she wasted herself,,,y’all have deemed yourselves,,judge and jury!! some of you people make the skin crawl.

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- SolitudeBliss
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:49pm
  Thank you Shagstar. The Indoctrination has really taken hold of these zombies. Scary.
  
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- bogs8
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:36pm
  hey shaghead, sorry Star: People need to be responsible for their own actions. ITS NOBODY ELSE’S FAULT EXCEPT THE PERSON WHO DECIDED TO KILL THEMSELVES!!! Stop blaming others but I gather you feel more secure because its everyone else’s fault that you’re a dope!!!
  
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HelloWorld
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:44pm
Telephone pranks have always gone on and some are quite amusing. The difference unfortunately is we now live in a world where no one shows restraint on behavior. The DJ’s are not responsible for this women’s death. The hospital is trying to punt it’s behavior on how it dealt with the situation to the radio station. Though you may think by listening to the tape that you can not understand why a nurse would feel this was a legitimate call. You are calling a professional who has no reason to believe you are not who you say you are. Would you want to tell the Queen “no” if you were the nurse on the other end of the phone. What we need is a world of more appropriate individuals. Good luck on getting any of those in the future.

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TJexcite
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:37pm
This whole situation was just a new form of Paparazzi. No one thought to call the hospital by the British paparazzi in Britain as that is not something they do but, thanks to the internet, DJ’s in Australia could get the number and did.

They have tried for the last 15 years to get the paparazzi that helped kill Diana and had very little affect to change the overall culture. Just how much money did that topless photo of Kate get the photographer. When the baby is born they will have to lock down most of London tighter than the Olympics and scan for bugs better than the US embassy in Moscow. Several websites will crash when they are the first to say the sex of the baby and some will fight and dig by any means necessary to be the first.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:44pm
  TJexcite
  
  Well put…
  
  Report this comment
Pat Alexander
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:35pm
We use to prank people on the phone: Do you have Prince Albert in a can? Would you see if Mike Hunt is there? etc. etc.

Dear God. This was the world’s worst imitation though.

I actually listened to the call. In the first place Kate would be the Queen’s grandson’s wife – not her granddaughter.

No one in their right mind would have believed the Queen and Prince Charles (and the royal hound) were chatting them up.

Sad this woman is dead, but there had to be other issues in her life..

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DadRocked
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:35pm
That is warped and funny…
I understand your dry humor…

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gzorpe
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:32pm
Let’s “weaponize” these DJ’s and have them call terrorists on the phone and get ‘em to answer stupid questions… Utilizing various suitable pretexts we could pre-kill lots of suicide jihad Muslim’s…

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:38pm
  Now that is a plan that I would be on board with…
  
  Report this comment
- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:42pm
  GZorpe – I’ve read your postings over time… You scare me… It’s like looking in the mirror…
  Keep the great posts coming…
  
  Report this comment
DadRocked
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:27pm
EVERYBODY… What do we believ in… Less government, less government control… This has NOTHING to do with killing this nurse. Each of us has a ‘tarnished’ halo… Things just become the straw that brakes the proverbial ‘camel’s back’…

Example, an article here today out of Pakistan, “Gov’t Mandates Increased Costs to Fight ‘Youth Vulgarity’”
Do you really want to restrict your opinions here? Honesty please.

There are way too many variables to make someone drop themselves.

I have to draw the line and say, simply, that there are an awful lot of persona issues, government mandates

If your ‘halo’ is untarnished GOD BLESS YOU !
But the last perfect person on this earth, was born then crucified and rose again for ALL of us with tarnished halos.

Stop trying to be so untarnished.

Happy HOLY DAYS TO ALL…

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- guz75
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:39pm
  What????????????????
  
  Report this comment
- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:57pm
  Guz75 – to generic of a response…
  I believe that my point is quite clear…
  Your point is?
  
  Report this comment
Arnold_Ziffel
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:23pm
It’s always fun, until someone loses an eye.

The DJs should be banned from the air.

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- SolitudeBliss
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:47pm
  Arnold – you’ve offended me. You should be banned from commenting on the Internet !
  
  Report this comment
- Arnold_Ziffel
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 5:55pm
  @Solitude
  
  Given the screen name, you are wither a hypocrite or a very unhappy person. Off with you, to your place of solitude.
  
  Report this comment
- SolitudeBliss
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:56pm
  @Arnold I am neither miserable or unhappy. I am a quite cheerful woman who enjoys those moments when one can take a few minutes of peace and quiet to catch ones breath and slow the pace down to enjoy life in the slow (and quiet lane) every once in a while. Just finished baking oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies for the grandkids. Merry Christmas :-)
  
  Report this comment
Boots1
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:19pm
“It was only supposed to be a harmless prank” is an admission they didn’t think this out. The bottom line is they, through fraud called a harmless prank, gained access to information covered by privacy/confidentiality rules. The nurse wasn’t thinking clearly at the time and put them through to the nurses station, and this was probably going to cost her her job. Who really cares whether she was unstable to begin with? The actions of the DJs are the issue. I don’t think they woke up thinking “lets get Kate’s private medical info”. But they got it and no else is responsible for their actions except them.

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OldSurfRat
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:00pm
Its not so funny anymore now is it??
This should be a lesson to all who like to take a prank to far.

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- DougHuffman
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:25pm
  Or walk a plank too far? In re ‘planking’, dialectical pranking.
  
  Report this comment
LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:50pm
In some Asian countries, public humiliation is taken very seriously.
It causes a lot of depression and suicides.

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- bogs8
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 6:40pm
  well good for the asians Moron!!
  
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:46pm
If the dead woman has family in Australia they should sue the radio station for causing mental anguish to their daughter/sister/wife (whatever) to the point that she killed herself. She may not get much but you can bet those DJ’s would not be held in any esteem by anyone. If they would have identified themselves to the last nurse before she began spilling confidential information they may have gotten away with a good joke and no one would be hurt. However…they ran with the prank all the way.

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LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:44pm
That radio station needs to realize, that actions have consequences.
We should all be held accountable for our actions.

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- Tom Ballard
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:56pm
  Well said.
  
  Report this comment
CHROME_PLATED_HEART
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:22pm
Who the hell at the station even conceived of this CHILDISH prank? My God, we used to do this when we were kids! That isn’t entertainment in my book by any stretch of the imagination. Leading people and hoaxing them in public. I think it’s sickening. They found a sensitive soul however, and she killed herself of this kind of CRUELTY. God rest her sweet soul. I hope the station gets pranked right off of the air.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:32pm
  CHROME_PLATED_HEART – “My God, we used to do this when we were kids!”
  I understand how ticked you are but when we played these games, we outgrew it. The next generation picked up what worked, then the next generation, then the next.
  
  “That isn’t entertainment in my book by any stretch of the imagination.”
  Agreed but once again, the radio jocks are entertaining their demographics.Just like what we may have found funny at a younger age.
  
  “God rest her sweet soul.”
  Ditto
  
  “I hope the station gets pranked right off of the air.”
  But then we fall into censorship… I will not endorse that… Sorry…
  
  Report this comment
- fastway
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:52pm
  CHROME_PLATED_ANUS- whatever, it was just a prank. Like you said we all have done it and do you really believe she killed herself? I mean really, do you believe anything a government has to do with. I would not be suprised if they killed her because it embarrassed them! So quit whining, you sound like a obammy, just blame every one else!
  
  Report this comment
- CHROME_PLATED_HEART
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 2:44am
  I’ll steel-plate YOUR anus with my boot tip in a fastway. Anytime, baby! Your ignorance is only superseded by your paranoid conspiracy theory there. …let’s dance sometime…
  
  Report this comment
- CHROME_PLATED_HEART
  Posted on December 10, 2012 at 2:54am
  Let me add, @ssway and dadsucks, when we called the butchershop and asked about pig’s feet, the butcher didn’t run out and kill himself. Neither did the hardware store clerk when we asked for Janitor In A Drum. (I bet a few housewives might’ve been distressed when we asked if they were wearing a waterproof blouse because their face was a pisser, though. As far as I know, none of them killed themselves either.)
  
  Report this comment
BasketFullOfPuppies
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:20pm
Were they totally responsible? I wouldn’t think so. But, if they think that they can deny any responsibility, I would think that foolish.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:34pm
  Directly no… Their actions only was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back…
  There had to be other issues in her noggin’
  
  Report this comment
- womenmakeuphalfthesky
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:02pm
  I agree with DADROCKED. It couldn’t have been Just that. That is the breaking point. I mean jeez if we were all as sensitive as tissue paper our population would be miniscule. Know what I mean?
  
  Report this comment
- BasketFullOfPuppies
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 4:32pm
  I don’t even know that she was “sensitive as toilet paper”. Some kids kill themselves simply over bullying at school. This person became one of the butts of a joke that:
  1. Went international in scope.
  2. Involved the royal family, which some people hold in very high regard.
  3. Embarrassed her employer.
  So, I would hesitate to infer that she just had thin skin. She had come under incredible pressure, over this. How much stress could you accept without breaking? I don’t think any of truly know the answer to that question.
  
  Report this comment
KentuckyVet
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:18pm
People need to learn that there are consequences for your actions! AS YE SOW, SO SHALL YE REAP!

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As I See It
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:12pm
It’s sad the woman took her own life – but if this is all it took, then that leap off the cliff was just waiting to happen for any old reason.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:35pm
  FULLY Agree
  
  Report this comment
TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:07pm
“Prank calls have been going on for 50 years in the radio industry. It is not designed to humiliate or embarrass.”

C’mon…. let’s not be disingenuous now…

It’s all fun n’ games until somebody kills themself over the humiliation and embarrassment of it…

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Restoration & Improvement
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:06pm
I blame the media in general for actually giving these useless people any coverage at all. Why in good God’s name do we give these “royals” any attention at all. They are a burden on regular taxpayers in the UK. How senseless……………..

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- StandingOnMyHead
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:37pm
  Agreed, agreed, agreed!!!
  
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undeadprospekt
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:02pm
I’m going to have to agree with the shock jocks to a certain extent. These kinds of prank shows happen all the time, and none of them end in terrible tragedies. They had no idea that this woman would react this way, and they really shouldn’t have any tangible responsibility. That said, maybe it’s time for us to get beyond these dumb pranks because they’re, well, dumb. Give me Moron Trivia on Beck’s radio show over that kind of crap any day.

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WildschweinJager
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:00pm
Feel bad about the nurse killing herself. Radiostation will have to “ride out the storm”.

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OneOfThe3Percent
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 12:59pm
Whats with the Blaze and news stories? There suddenly seems to be a lack of Obama coverage. Guess I will navigate over to WND.

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- undeadprospekt
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:03pm
  Maybe because Obama isn’t doing anything? WND is bad journalism, by the way. Poor writing with poor fact checking with a sprinkle of conspiracy on top. Stay away from that.
  
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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:51pm
  Weekend staffers would be my guess…
  
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yougottabekidding
Posted on December 9, 2012 at 12:55pm
This whole bit is bull!
After listening to it, common sense would say that it sounded so faked or put on as it was. That no person in their right mind would have thought the voices were who they claimed to be. It was an obvious put on in fun and if it was taken in any other way there was a problem on the hospital end, that would have manifested it self sooner or later.

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- lisalake
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 1:03pm
  This woman was obviously unstable to begin with..and as she is dead there is NO proof she killed herself over this. Just another attack on free speech and to promote the punish the bully bullshitt.
  
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- SamIamTwo
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 2:50pm
  Free speech? Pranking someone to do something that they should not do? Get you fired dood…nah you guys have your cortex screwed on too tight or something. Re-think it and put yourself in her shoes and ask yourself how would you feel.
  
  People of other ethnicities do not take such things lightly. And this is one of the reasons that the African Americans can make a case that you don’t understand and must be racist.
  
  Report this comment
- Steel
  Posted on December 9, 2012 at 8:33pm
  The woman is dead. How fair is that. And how fair are you for making light of an unnecessary tragedy. The incident was clearly a factor in the nurse’s death. You simply cannot argue that away with some whimsical, “Oh, she was unbalanced anyway” argument. What part of “dead” don’t you understand or have empathy for? How crass!
  
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