A nurse at the private hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge has been found dead in a suspected suicide three days after being duped by two Australian radio presenters in a hoax call.
The body of Jacintha Saldanha, 46, a mother of two teenage children, was found at her lodgings close to the King Edward VII hospital, central London, at 9.25am on Friday.
It is understood Saldanha, who lived with her family in Bristol but had worked at the London hospital for four years, was the staff member who had answered a telephone call at 5.30am on Tuesday from Sydney's 2Day FM presenters posing as the Queen and the Prince of Wales. Believing them to be genuine, she had put the call through to a duty nurse, who then divulged intimate medical details of the duchess's condition to the presenters.
Police and an ambulance were called to a flat in Weymouth Street, central London, at 9.25am where they found Saldanha's unconscious body. Attempts to revive her were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Scotland Yard said the death "is not being treated as suspicious at this stage".
The duchess, who was admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon with acute morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidarum, was discharged on Thursday.
In a statement, St James's Palace said the duke and duchess were "deeply saddened" at the news of the nurse's death. "Their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time."
A St James's Palace spokesman added that the palace had "at no point" complained about the hoax incident. "On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times".
After the prank, Prince Charles appeared to brush off the incident, joking with reporters when he arrived at an event at HMS Belfast: "How do you know I'm not a radio station?"
But the call was deeply embarrassing for the hospital, which is the medical institution of choice for the royal family. It is understood when presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian rang the hospital, no receptionist was on duty as it was too early, so Saldanha answered the phone.
Greig, pretending to be the Queen, asked to speak to "my granddaughter Kate". In the call, the nurse can be heard saying "Oh yes, just hold on, Ma'am", before transferring Greig to a duty nurse.
The hoax made international headlines on Wednesday and Thursday. Delighted with the success of "our easiest prank call ever", the duo had been replaying the call on the station.
But, as news of the death broke, the two, said to be "deeply shocked" took down their Twitter accounts and the station announced they would not return to their radio show until further notice.
It is understood that the hospital, which had described the hoax as deplorable, was not disciplining the nurses involved.
In a statement it said: "We can confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff, Jacintha Saldanha. Jacintha has worked at the King Edward VII 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".
John Lofthouse, the hospital's chief executive, added: "Everyone is shocked by the loss of a much-loved and valued colleague". Lord Glenarthur, the hospital chairman, said: "This is a tragic event. Jacintha was a first-class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds of patients during her time with us. She will be greatly missed".
In a statement released through the Metropolitan Police, her family said: "We as a family are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved Jacintha. We would ask that the media respect our privacy at this difficult time."
Neighbours near the family home in Bristol said she lived with her partner, Ben, and son , 16, and daughter, believed to be 14. She stayed in London when she was working and lived with her family on days off. One said: "They're a lovely family – Ben gives my lad a lift when he goes refereeing at Bristol Rovers."
Another said: "I've always known her as the doctor, she was always very smartly dressed. Their son was always really into football, we always saw him with a ball kicking it about with his friends. She was a lovely woman, every time I saw her she would talk to me."
Another described her as very "smiley and bubbly". Neighbours said she used to joke she was a "nurse for the queen". Before going to work at the royal family's favoured hospital, she had worked at North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Frenchay and Southmead Hospitals in the city.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said it was deeply saddening: "This is tragic news, and the thoughts of all at the Royal College of Nursing go to the family of Jacintha Saldanha."
Lofthouse said on Tuesday the hospital was considering whether to take action against the radio station.
After the show was aired, the station apologised, but continued to promote its hoax, playing clips of the records, and calling it "the prank call the world is talking about". On Friday, as the backlash grew, both DJs were subjected to abuse and threats on Twitter. There were calls for them to lose their jobs.The radio station's Facebook page was bombarded with thousands of abusive comments from outraged users.
Scotland Yard is investigating and is treating the death as "unexplained". In a statement, it said: "Police were called at 9.25am on Friday, December 7, to a report of a woman found unconscious at an address in Weymouth Street, W1."
"London ambulance service attended and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Inquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances of the incident. The death is not being treated as suspicious at this stage".
In a statement, the London Ambulance service said: "We were called at 9.25am this morning to an address on Weymouth Street. We sent two ambulance crews and a duty officer. Sadly the patient, a woman, was dead.
