How the Prank Call at Kate Middleton's Hospital Turned Deadly

AP Photo/Alastair Grant
Dashiell Bennett 12,080 Views Dec 7, 2012

The woman who fell for a prank phone call made to the hospital where Kate Middleton was recently treated was found dead this morning after apparently committing suicide — and the pranksters will not be getting away with it. Officials say the receptionist, identified as Jacintha Saldanha, was found this morning near King Edward VII Hospital, the same hospital where she worked and where earlier this week Kate Middleton checked in with a bout of acute morning sickness, revealing to the world that she was pregnant.

On Wednesday, Mel Grieg, a DJ for a morning show in Sydney, Australia, called the hospital pretending to be Queen Elizabeth, and asked to speak to Kate. Without questioning it, the receptionist immediately put her through to the Duchess's ward, where a duty nurse also believing she was talking to the queen, gave them an update on her condition. Grieg and her partner, Michael Christian, later apologized saying they never expected they would actually be believed. The hospital said they regretted the incident, even though the royal family didn't make a complaint against the nurses.

But now what started out as a childish prank has morphed into an international embrassment and now into a tragedy. People have already begun attack the two DJ on Twitter (although some are defending them) and the hysteria surrounding the pending royal baby will only add fuel to the fire, possibly bringing down more repercussion for those involved.

Update: Both Greig and Christian have have closed down their Twitter accounts.

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