What killed Jacintha Saldanha? Kate Middleton’s pranked nurse is dead
THE nurse who put talked to two Australian radio tricksters was called Jacintha Saldanha. She was the hospital receptionist who put 2day FM’s Mel Greig and Michael Christian through to the Duchess of Cambridge’s rooms at King Edward VII Hospital.
Now Jacintha Saldanha, 46, is dead. She most likely killed herself. She was found unconscious at an address near the private Central London hospital at around 9.30am this morning.
Ms Saldanha had two children.
Reactions have been swift. Are the two events linked? The two DJs have deleted their Twitter accounts. Their radio station has suspended them.
Kate and Prince William are said to be upset at the nurse’s death. In a statement, St James’s Palace says:
“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha. Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha’s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time.”
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, adds:
“It is deeply saddening that a simple human error due to a cruel hoax could lead to the death of a dedicated and caring member of the nursing profession.”
A cruel hoax? Was it cruel? It was dumb and childish. Did the DJs think their prank would have a hand in a woman’s death? Surely not.
Listen to it here.
The hospital has issued a stament:
“It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff, Jacintha Saldanha. Jacintha has worked at the King Edward VII’s Hospital for more than four years. She was an excellent nurse and well-respected and popular with all of her colleagues. We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this difficult time.”
She was the victim. That much is certain.
Update: According to her mangement company, Mel Greig:
Most people will find it hard to believe, but Adelaide radio darling Mel Greig’s incredibly successful media career, which includes a long list of radio gigs and a stint on Channel 7’s Amazing Race Australia, almost didn’t happen. Most also won’t believe she used to be shy, had no confidence, ran away from home and left school at the age of 15. It was volunteering at Fresh FM at the age of 16 that was Mel’s saving grace and sparked a love affair with the spotlight.
Now at 29, Mel considers herself ‘one of the lucky ones that turned my life around’, and, as a co-owner of a successful business, she is immensely proud of her 13-year career in radio, that is still going strong.
A brilliantly engaging MC and hostess, Mel has hosted a string of VIP events in Adelaide and interstate, including the Clipsal 500, Magarey Medal Red Carpet arrivals, Unley Road fashion week, Northern Territory fashion week, the SA4QLD Gala Dinner and numerous movie premieres.
Mel is a current announcer on Adelaide’s Mix 102.3 and brings a balanced mix of humor, gregariousness and passion to the role. With a resume that includes Triple M, SAFM, Fresh FM and Nova Adelaide radio stations, as well as Sydney stations 2day FM and Nova, there isn’t much Mel doesn’t know about radio.
Mel likes long walks on the beach and is an advocate for world peace.
More here.
Posted: 7th, December 2012 | In: News, Royal Family Comments (43) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
January 20th, 2013 at 10:04 am
I don´t think she is pregnant..
January 13th, 2013 at 8:17 pm
OK I’ll give the conspiracy theory a shot. Jacintha took the call and put it through to a senior doctor who was at Kates bedside. Unfortunately he divulged more than he should have and compromised the hospital authorities. The hunt for a scapegoat started and Jacintha was suspended from duties and forbidden contact with family and colleagues to prevent contamination of evidence. A Dr Kelly style suicide was arranged whilst evidence of her mental instability and professional unsuitability was also leaked to the press. As yet Keith Vaz has not obtained any answers to the 40 questions her relatives want the hospital to answer and he isn’t going to get any from the internal enquiry.
January 2nd, 2013 at 6:12 pm
How long do they take to post comments or was mine not “OK” to post ?!
January 2nd, 2013 at 6:05 pm
I agree with “wondering” , yes William blamed the media for Waity going nude outdoors. They are both idiots. William got all righteous about it, Waity pretended to be “sad” and “violated” even though the bimbo regularly “violates” herself and always did. Her long career of drinking and being drunk in public attests to that – plus the many photos of her crotch that went along with it. Gee, I guess being drunk in public and getting in and out of cars, you just can’t help those crotch photos if you are an uncoordinated drunk,{right Waity ?}. Oh she had every right to do whatever she wanted, but why did William chose a person like her to marry ? It’s as if he decided to marry the most ridiculous,undignified wretch he could find. Yet she is supposed to represent Britain ?!
Why wasn’t the photographer in Calgary,Canada threatened ? You know – the one who took photos of Waity’s naked rear ,during an official visit no less ?{that’s WAity for you, pure stupidity}…she was in that yellow dress and a wind blew her skirt up {wearing underwear is usually a good idea but not for that bimbo}….that was in the “pre-Nude-France” days of Waity’s life. That photographer was not hassled {good because he was only capturing the truth}. But oh the furor over the exhibitionism caught on film in France !!! The Royals should make up their minds – ooops no they probably don’t want to call more attention onto Waity’s stupidity and exhibitionism in Canada. Everyone pretended it didn’t happen,
Now has the Queen ever showed her naked rear in public ? No…Did Princess Diana ever do that ? No….but WAITY did. Have the standards of human behavior been lowered so very far ?, that this type of dumb,undignified purely ignorant behavior “OK” now ? Is it really “OK” and what is society becoming ? Or what is it now ? So the Royals, even as bizarre as they are, are now accepting such train wrecks as Waity ? She can’t even throw up without someone dying in connection with it.
I’m sure it’s not over yet. Waity has that kind of kinetic energy….you will likely see more f-ups from her as time goes on.
January 2nd, 2013 at 6:00 pm
I agree with “wondering” , yes William blamed the media for Waity going nude outdoors. They are both idiots. William got all righteous about it, Waity pretended to be “sad” and “violated” even though the bimbo regularly “violates” herself and always did. Her long career of drinking and being drunk in public attests to that – plus the many photos of her crotch that went along with it. Gee, I guess being drunk in public and getting in and out of cars, you just can’t help those crotch photos if you are an uncoordinated drunk,{right Waity ?}. Oh she had every right to do whatever she wanted, but why did William chose a person like her to marry ? It’s as if he decided to marry the most ridiculous,undignified wretch he could find. Yet she is supposed to represent Britain ?!
Why wasn’t the photographer in Calgary,Canada threatened ? You know – the one who took photos of Waity’s naked butt ,during an official visit no less ?{that’s WAity for you, pure stupidity}…she was in that yellow dress and a wind blew her skirt up {wearing underwear is usually a good idea but not for that bimbo}….that was in the “pre-Nude-France” days of Waity’s life. That photographer was not hassled {good because he was only capturing the truth}. But oh the furor over the exhibitionism caught on film in France !!! The Royals should make up their minds – ooops no they probably don’t want to call more attention onto Waity’s stupidity and exhibitionism in Canada. Everyone pretended it didn’t happen,
Now has the Queen ever showed her naked butt in public ? No…Did Princess Diana ever do that ? No….but WAITY did. Have the standards of human behavior been lowered so very far ?, that this type of dumb,undignified purely ignorant behavior “OK” now ? Is it really “OK” and what is society becoming ? Or what is it now ? So the Royals, even as bizarre as they are, are now accepting such train wrecks as Waity ? She can’t even throw up without someone dying in connection with it.
I’m sure it’s not over yet. Waity has that kind of kinetic energy….you will likely see more f-ups from her as time goes on.
December 27th, 2012 at 8:59 am
hats down for VictorCameron’s comments.
Institutional (hospital) bullying is Itahorrible and common reality that is too often ignored.
December 15th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
Having been there I know that the reaction from hopital staff and management would be along the lines of…..
“Look this is a serious breach of confidentiality and because you have acted in such an unprofessional manner – professional misconduct purposely implied! (ie put through the call to the ward). Therefore, there will be serious re-percussions, (how right they were!!) anyway we suggest that you get someone to represent you as soon as you can. In the meantime we offer you full support and will immediately be referring you for Occupational Health assessment (veiled threat(s) implied) albeit transcendental, but inherently malevolant post event) – no wonder she hanged herself in light of this direct pressure from the usual NHS (official spokeman – what the…. I am alright Jack, pull up the ladder management policies – SIMPLES….also the notion of suspension would have been openly, vividly and immediately felt by Jacintha VC
December 14th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
evil…if the baby’s a girl & they name her Lizzie after her gran there’s got to be a good chance your right….
December 14th, 2012 at 2:42 am
Is it wrong to want to shout ‘ Its a Lizard baby ! ‘ ?
December 13th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Yampster…you & me know your joking but be careful what you say as some conspiracy theory posters can be quite paranoid . Would’nt want to scare one into doing something silly like committing suicide over something so stupid…would you?
December 13th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
You’re next. We have given your IP address and a sample of your keystrokes to MI5. Keep your eye open for a white Fiat Uno on your way home
December 13th, 2012 at 9:51 am
Filthy royals offed the nurse.
Fuck them all!
December 13th, 2012 at 12:39 am
Maybe there is more to it than meets the eye, something on the lines of this: Kate Middleton is not pregnant at all. Or maybe she lost the baby and the Palace will just produce a baby in a few months anyway, because they desperately need positive public opinion. What better way to the public brainwashing than lots of baby photos. Then they can drag out all the old royal baby photos, distract the Brits from what’s really going on, the cost of these spongers.
This poor nurse knew something about this ‘pregnancy’ which undermined these Windors or Battenburgs and she was considered a threat. She was like a fly swatted by the mighty voracious monarchy.
Ii see a lot of people posting here understand that a hardworking mother of 2, religious, grounded and in her 40s wouldn’t commit suicide over a prank. ESPECIALLY as Kate is so NICE, compassionate and thoughtful and neither her nor LOVELY William would have said a peep to upset her????????
The monarchy is really outdated, even new ones introduced for photographic effect, these murders must stop.
December 10th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Well here we have a mother who decides on suicide, A mother who does not say goodbye to her children and do it in her bedroom a woman that did it in hospital grounds, a mother that was a roman catholic and devout at that’ decides that she will kill herself in full knowledge that she cant have mass at her funeral or be buried on consecrated ground because she put a call through.
whatever happened this woman never killed herself someone else killed her, she only put the call through, and what about all the protocols that were not followed, Im not a royalist but even I know she was not the queens granddaughter and when I first listend to it I thought it was false. Then the next day the report was the nurse that answered the call was found dead in hospital grounds after commiting suicide.
Honestly does anyone believe this, her family are saying they still have not been told what happened, was there a note’ how did she do it etc
December 10th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
“How do you know im not a radio station?”
charles saxe- coburg-gotha.
You turn up dead thats how you know….
December 9th, 2012 at 11:46 am
They KILL people!
And you all know it.
December 9th, 2012 at 5:45 am
Anyone with a working brain can see the “facts” presented don’t add up. She was “found dead” at an unspecified location close to the hospital. No suicide note. According to friends, acquantainces, co-workers and relatives nothing to suggest depression. As an Catholic Indian from the south west (Goa), I can say that it is unlikely that this happened because of dishonor or shame. And then look at the actual prank…..all that was released was that Kate was suffering from hyperemesis gravidium. What is so funny and scandalous about that really??..wow….some woman has severe morning sickness…..OMG….so shocking….so awful…..it’s the worst thing in the world…..really (gotta love sarcasm). I find it hard to believe that the hospital would sack a hardworking woman for releasing something so trivial….even with confidentiality clauses in place. The nature of the prank nor its outcome balance with a motive for suicide. This suggests that police are just saying it’s suicide to cover up something more….something more sinister….something we all already know. To the millions of sheep out there…..wool has been pulled over your eyes yet again.
December 9th, 2012 at 4:08 am
This article neglects to mention one important point: the pranked victim needs to consent to having the prank broadcast. The producers of the show didn’t get consent from the British nurse. Instead, they claimed that because she’s in London, they don’t need her consent, thus they didn’t violate any Australian broadcast regulations.
The DJs and producers should at least be fined/punished for violating broadcast regulations. The producers especially.
The least they can do is apologize (sincerely) instead of hiding behind regulatory loopholes.
December 9th, 2012 at 12:01 am
To survive as a nurse, it takes a special character and inner strength developed over many years, having witnessed some of the most horrific scenes that take place in any hospital.
Not only was this Lady experienced, one would think that over the years there have been many more issues to deal with emotionally than this.
She was also a highly respected and devoted mother and wife and taking her own life over a harmless, light hearted prank call, is incomprehensible.
Her credibility as a quality human being and a valuable, contributing member of any society far outweighs that of any member of the royal family, especially the fragile little patient who, for the first time in her life, experienced some form of bodily discomfort that millions of other pregnant women around the world do as well and deal with it. Imagine if every woman who experienced morning sickness was rushed to hospital.
Did the doctors overlook the possibility that Kate was experiencing muscle tightness after holding a hockey stick for 5 minutes, hence the rush to hospital?
I am more inclined to believe that little Kate demanded the nurse be sacked after being disturbed whilst watching a documentary on her 80” TV titled, ‘ How to regain your sexy body after birth’, whilst enjoying a glass of champagne and a cigarette.
It’s also ludicrous watching reporters on TV stating that “the whole world can’t wait for the birth of the next royal”
The fact is that 99% of the world’s population couldn’t give stuff about any matters to do with the royal family.
I am now waiting for the update on the traumatised Kate, who will need a 3 month vacation to the Bahamas, accompanied by a full medical team, therapist, personal trainer, 3 masseurs and Heston Blumenthal to recover from this selfish and inconsiderate act.
No doubt, the media will keep us updated on her progress.
December 8th, 2012 at 11:37 pm
Lets all get real….The Receptionist (Saldanha) hardly spoke three words to the Radio Jocks….Then she is found dying ???.
I would be happy to know someone so unstable was not nursing my wife…the poor girl must have been in need of treatment long before this episode.
This is the British people who survived years of the blitz in WW2…and are now knocked over by a one minute phone call…Lets get real.
December 8th, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Very sad for Mrs. Saldanha and her grieving family.
There is something ‘not right about this whole business’ a red herring or yet another distraction to conceal the real truth here and yet again create a distraction from the real culprits.
December 8th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
16ps – dont be an idiot
December 8th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Queen clearly !
December 8th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Come off it! Whatever you think of the Royals why on earth would they bump off the woman who merely put the call through?! Saldanha didn’t divulge anything herself. And even the nurse that did caused very little damage, just some red faces. Even then there was little or nothing to embarrass the Royals themselves.
Wouldn’t want to speculate why Saldnha killed herself. It does seem like an extreme reaction but then I’ve never found myself at the middle if a media storm. Nor have most people here.
But, really, this Royal murder theory is demi-brained nonsense.
December 8th, 2012 at 11:17 am
They the royals killed her. It is so obvious. They killed the nurse ( no VIP ) to get the backlash on the DJ’s. well planned out as always.
December 8th, 2012 at 11:09 am
p.p.s. as Australians maybe they should have known better than to mess about with the lizard people…
December 8th, 2012 at 11:07 am
p.s. One thing is for sure….the two Aussie d.j.’s who pulled off this prank have committed suicide by killing their own careers…
December 8th, 2012 at 11:03 am
…got to love these conspiracy theorists…next they will be saying that the nurse was killed to cover up the fact that Kate was having such severe morning sickness due to her carrying a giant lizard baby around in her womb….a symptom of mating with blue bloods.
Come in David Icke…the time is nigh!
December 8th, 2012 at 9:41 am
Well I think the royal family have sent a very clear message that the prank/phone hacking fashion that seems to be happening to all famous people is not to be tolerated and I think they have sent that message quiet clearly here.
The person that put the call through – killed.
The 2 people doing the call suspended and will probably have some accident in the future that looks legit and will never be reported in the UK media.
December 8th, 2012 at 7:26 am
I agree with Malone and David Kelly–
December 8th, 2012 at 5:56 am
Totally agree. But what I don’t understand is in this day and age with internet, facebook, twitter, etc. why isn’t anyone coming forward with a bit of more info like a pic or eye witnessing of her laying unconscious, last actions before being killed. I guess everyone is scared to comment like the family must be told to keep quiet if they dont want the same to happen to them as well.