Australian DJs apologize for royal hoax call
In the phone call they impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.
SYDNEY: They expected a hang-up and a few laughs. Instead, the Australian DJs behind a hoax phone call to the UK hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was treated were in tears Monday as they described how their joke ended up going too far.
The phone call in which they impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles went through and their station broadcast and even trumpeted the confidential information received. Whatever pride there had been over the hoax was obliterated in a storm of worldwide public outrage after Friday s death, still unexplained, of the first nurse they talked to.
"There s not a minute that goes by that we don t think about her family and what they must be going through," 2DayFM radio host Mel Greig told Australia s "A Current Affair," her voice shaking. "And the thought that we may have played a part in that is gut-wrenching."
She and co-host Michael Christian spoke publicly about the prank for the first time in the televised interview. A separate interview on rival show "Today Tonight" also aired Monday.
Both DJs apologized for the hoax and broke down in tears when asked about the moment they learned that the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, was dead. But neither described having reservations before the hoax tape was broadcast; they said higher-ups had made the decision to air it. "We didn t have that discussion," Greig said.
Southern Cross Austereo, the parent company of 2DayFM, released a statement Monday saying Greig and Christian s show had been terminated and there would be a company-wide suspension of prank calls. The DJs themselves remain suspended.
Saldanha, 46, had transferred their call last week to a fellow nurse caring for the duchess, who was being treated for acute morning sickness. That nurse said the former Kate Middleton "hasn t had any retching with me and she s been sleeping on and off."
Three days later, Saldanha died. Police have not yet determined the cause of death, but many immediately assumed it was related to the stress from the call.
The DJs said when the idea for the call came up in a team meeting, no one expected that they would actually be put through to the duchess ward. The decision to air the prerecorded call was made by executives higher up the chain, the DJs said.
Southern Cross Austereo CEO Rhys Holleran has called Saldanha s death a tragedy but defended the prank as a standard part of radio culture. He has also insisted the station had not broken any laws and had adhered to procedures.
In London on Monday, officials at King Edward VII Hospital denied that its management had been contacted by the radio station.
It also announced a memorial fund to help support the nurse s family, with the hospital making the first donation.
The hoax has sparked broad outrage, with the hosts receiving death threats and calls for them to be fired. Greig said she doesn t even want to think about returning to the airwaves.
