In one "the easiest prank calls" of all time, an Australian DJ briefly talked to Kate Middleton's nurse on the phone after pretending—rather unconvincingly—that she was Queen Elizabeth II. In the grand tradition of dumb radio morning-show ideas, Mel Greig and Michael Christian of 2Day FM in Sydney, phoned King Edward VII hospital in London this morning, said in a mangled accent "This is the Queen," and simply asked to speak to the Duchess of Cambridge. Improbably, the receptionist immediately put them through to Kate's ward, where an awestruck nurse answered and updated "the queen" on her granddaughter-in-law's condition. (She had an "uneventful" night and was sleeping, by the way.) Despite Christian's poor attempt to play Prince Charles and someone else pretending to be barking corgis in the background, it doesn't appear that anyone caught on before they quickly hung up.

You can listen to the whole call below. It starts around the 1:30 mark. (via Business Insider)

Hospital officials have admitted the prank was real and apologized to the royal family for the breach of protocol, though they swear there was no chance of the call ever reaching Kate. Even Grieg and Christian apologized afterward, saying they never expected to get through. 

Pranking the royals is an old sport for DJ folk. In 1995, the Queen herself briefly spoke to a Canadian DJ, who was pretending to be Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

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Dashiell Bennett