Duchess Of Cambridge Hoax Call Nurse Found Dead

[chooka]

My condolences.

I do not believe that a bad impersonation of the queen was what caused her to committ suicide. I believe that the woman must of had some pre exsiting psych problems. I listened to it and if the two woman couldn't tell this was not the real queen then they couldn't be to British. Even Aussies know that the queen wouldn't make her own phone call to get permission to come in for a visit and who would tell the Queen sorry visiting hours are only after 9 a.m?

"I don't care if your the Queen of Bloody England" as the saying goes. I think the nurse knew very well it was a prank call.

[chooka]

At the end of the day. They broke the law in 2 countries. Trying to get permission is not enough, The needed to be given permission. They weren't, they did the crime now do the time.

The Australian regulatory body for media will probably have a hearing, the station owners will have a barrister on $3/4k an hour to argue their case that best endeavours were made to comply with regulations and find some wriggle room, then a fine levied on the station owners. In the meantime the radio station will have lost revenue from putting on hold adverts for a few days and will need to replace a few large corporate clients - a bit of fiscal pain. Maybe someone in management fired with a good redundancy package to feed the regulators concerns regarding management professionalism. The two media people will have been suspended on full pay under their contract and will probably have to retake a course in the relevant commercial code of conduct and then carry on their merry way, knowing full well they achieved their objectives for name recognition and notoriety. QED

Got that wrong, the two presenters show has been cancelled. No mention at this stage if it means their employment contracts have also been pulled. As I said before you would think the main culprits would be the management team who authorised the segment to go to air against the regulatory conditions

The management and the producers authorise these things and the announcers merely follow scripts of the show with a little poetic licence.

[chooka]

At the end of the day. They broke the law in 2 countries. Trying to get permission is not enough, The needed to be given permission. They weren't, they did the crime now do the time.

They, you mean the radio station and producers, or the announcers who work for them and do not have the final say as to what exactly goes to air. Maybe you mean everyone involved at the station.

[Fozfromoz]

All I can say is....................not so funny now, is it.

[BookMan]

You don't seem to get the difference between calling for someone to be charged with murder for a harmless prank which is operated tens of thousands of times a day across the globe.....and calling for them to be labelled fools perhaps, possibly reprimanded for doing an illegal act if they violated any rules....yet even that is only being granted because of hindsight.

I don't recall anyone in this topic saying that they should be charged with murder; perhaps you can link to the posts where this has been said?

Harmless prank? Which set out to obtain confidential medical information and humiliate hospital staff; which resulted in one of those staff members taking her life. You call that harmless!

Yes, as has been said many times, other radio stations make prank calls, but they do, or legally must, obtain the victim's permission before broadcasting them This pair and their bosses didn't.

I've just heard their interview on the BBC; lots of weasel words about how bad they feel, but very little expression of regret and no apology to the hospital or, more importantly, the nurses family.

The radio station say that they tried to contact the hospital 5 times before deciding to broadcast the piece; so they must have known permission was required but decided to go ahead anyway.

Steely Dan, Noel Edmonds was, and still is in my opinion, a talentless individual, but others do seem to like him. I remember the incident you refer to, but the big difference between that case and this is that he took part in the stunt of his own free will.

What is the final outcome you want to see from all this 7by7?

[Humbugged]

I don't recall anyone in this topic saying that they should be charged with murder; perhaps you can link to the posts where this has been said?

Harmless prank? Which set out to obtain confidential medical information and humiliate hospital staff; which resulted in one of those staff members taking her life. You call that harmless!

Yes, as has been said many times, other radio stations make prank calls, but they do, or legally must, obtain the victim's permission before broadcasting them This pair and their bosses didn't.

I've just heard their interview on the BBC; lots of weasel words about how bad they feel, but very little expression of regret and no apology to the hospital or, more importantly, the nurses family.

The radio station say that they tried to contact the hospital 5 times before deciding to broadcast the piece; so they must have known permission was required but decided to go ahead anyway.

Steely Dan, Noel Edmonds was, and still is in my opinion, a talentless individual, but others do seem to like him. I remember the incident you refer to, but the big difference between that case and this is that he took part in the stunt of his own free will.

People can justify their opinions for or against what the UK Royals are good and bad for.

However, the people who serve them, even at low pay, are extraordinarily gifted and dedicated people. These people would jump in front of a bullet to protect the royals. This nurse took it pretty hard, apparently, and tragedy struck.

So sad. The Aussies have such hatred for the Brits and for what? Never met one who liked Britain, but there are tons of them there. I hope those two monkeys get charged with involuntary manslaughter. Do a bit of reversal. Ship the criminals back to the UK to serve their time.

There is one for you....cannot be bothered labouring through the rest to prove a silly point to you.

Get over it, a harmless prank that went wrong....guilty of doing something stupid perhaps, but unintentionally at that......string em high....get real.

[Baerboxer]

I'm not worried because I don't post insulting, intimidating, piss taking, posts; or play stupid pranks, continuously ridicule people or expect everyone to share my values and beliefs.

Why don't you think about the specifics of this case instead of making wide irrelevant generalisations and asking silly quetions. There is plenty of media comment on-line for you to read now.

She wouldn't have been aware of any of that.

The DJs called. She put the call through. She wouldn't have heard another thing of it until being contacted and hassled by the British media.

That would put her death squarely in the British media's court, not the DJs.

If you want to use the "If the DJ's didn't call ..." argument, then it's all Kate's fault. "If Kate wasn't sick ..."

This is your opinion not a statement of fact. You don't know what she was aware of, who had told her what, what she had read etc. - neither do the rest of us for that matter.

All we know is that if the call had not been made the probability is the tradegy would not have happened. Cause and effect requires some thought.

[whybother]

I'm not worried because I don't post insulting, intimidating, piss taking, posts; or play stupid pranks, continuously ridicule people or expect everyone to share my values and beliefs.

Why don't you think about the specifics of this case instead of making wide irrelevant generalisations and asking silly quetions. There is plenty of media comment on-line for you to read now.

She wouldn't have been aware of any of that.

The DJs called. She put the call through. She wouldn't have heard another thing of it until being contacted and hassled by the British media.

That would put her death squarely in the British media's court, not the DJs.

If you want to use the "If the DJ's didn't call ..." argument, then it's all Kate's fault. "If Kate wasn't sick ..."

This is your opinion not a statement of fact. You don't know what she was aware of, who had told her what, what she had read etc. - neither do the rest of us for that matter.

All we know is that if the call had not been made the probability is the tradegy would not have happened. Cause and effect requires some thought.

Do you think she listens to 2Day FM on the internet?

As I said ... "If Kate hadn't been sick ..."

[Baerboxer]

Some folks fail to understand the difference between what's appropriate and what's not, this is all about good judgement or the lack of it, surprised so many still argue the toss on this point.

You don't seem to get the difference between calling for someone to be charged with murder for a harmless prank which is operated tens of thousands of times a day across the globe.....and calling for them to be labelled fools perhaps, possibly reprimanded for doing an illegal act if they violated any rules....yet even that is only being granted because of hindsight.

I don't believe they should be charged with murder, I merely want to see people stop trying to convince us that their actions were acceptable, that they are labelled as fools goes without saying.

I agree Chiang Mai. I haven't seen any post calling for them to be charged with murder, and no one would think that. This was a silly prank that backfired with horrendous consquences. However, there was a failure to get permission from the nurses, and they were recorded without being informed. Not acceptable, and not the first issue with this station.

The stations CEO and now the DJ's have made carefully scripted TV appearances now, which look like attempts at arse covering and trying to get public sympathy for themselves.

[Spoonman]

Seriously, just heard the prank call.

only result from that was the chicks death.

the radio people need to be assholded as it was that bad.

[Baerboxer]

I'm not worried because I don't post insulting, intimidating, piss taking, posts; or play stupid pranks, continuously ridicule people or expect everyone to share my values and beliefs.

Why don't you think about the specifics of this case instead of making wide irrelevant generalisations and asking silly quetions. There is plenty of media comment on-line for you to read now.

She wouldn't have been aware of any of that.

The DJs called. She put the call through. She wouldn't have heard another thing of it until being contacted and hassled by the British media.

That would put her death squarely in the British media's court, not the DJs.

If you want to use the "If the DJ's didn't call ..." argument, then it's all Kate's fault. "If Kate wasn't sick ..."

This is your opinion not a statement of fact. You don't know what she was aware of, who had told her what, what she had read etc. - neither do the rest of us for that matter.

All we know is that if the call had not been made the probability is the tradegy would not have happened. Cause and effect requires some thought.

Do you think she listens to 2Day FM on the internet?

As I said ... "If Kate hadn't been sick ..."

You have no idea - and neither do I. She may have heard a recording at the hospital - who knows.

Yeah sure, and if William hadn't proposed, or Charles hadn't married Diana ......... if that sort of comment makes you happy, good luck to you.

[Baerboxer]

I don't recall anyone in this topic saying that they should be charged with murder; perhaps you can link to the posts where this has been said?

Harmless prank? Which set out to obtain confidential medical information and humiliate hospital staff; which resulted in one of those staff members taking her life. You call that harmless!

Yes, as has been said many times, other radio stations make prank calls, but they do, or legally must, obtain the victim's permission before broadcasting them This pair and their bosses didn't.

I've just heard their interview on the BBC; lots of weasel words about how bad they feel, but very little expression of regret and no apology to the hospital or, more importantly, the nurses family.

The radio station say that they tried to contact the hospital 5 times before deciding to broadcast the piece; so they must have known permission was required but decided to go ahead anyway.

Steely Dan, Noel Edmonds was, and still is in my opinion, a talentless individual, but others do seem to like him. I remember the incident you refer to, but the big difference between that case and this is that he took part in the stunt of his own free will.

People can justify their opinions for or against what the UK Royals are good and bad for.

However, the people who serve them, even at low pay, are extraordinarily gifted and dedicated people. These people would jump in front of a bullet to protect the royals. This nurse took it pretty hard, apparently, and tragedy struck.

So sad. The Aussies have such hatred for the Brits and for what? Never met one who liked Britain, but there are tons of them there. I hope those two monkeys get charged with involuntary manslaughter. Do a bit of reversal. Ship the criminals back to the UK to serve their time.

There is one for you....cannot be bothered labouring through the rest to prove a silly point to you.

Get over it, a harmless prank that went wrong....guilty of doing something stupid perhaps, but unintentionally at that......string em high....get real.

Involuntary manslaughter and murder are not the same. It was a prank that went horribly wrong but was executed contrary to the codes of practice and laws desinged to stop this sort of silly prank going wrong. Not everyone shares the same sense of humour or ideas of fun. Society has to try to protect everyone, without being overly restrictive. Permision was required to record and broadcast, possibly sought but not received. The decision to go ahead was a calculated risk. No one could have seen the tragic consequences, but had the rules been followed there would not have been a tradgedy.

[7by7]

I don't recall anyone in this topic saying that they should be charged with murder; perhaps you can link to the posts where this has been said?

. I hope those two monkeys get charged with involuntary manslaughter.

There is one for you....cannot be bothered labouring through the rest to prove a silly point to you.

As has already been said, involuntary manslaughter and murder are not the same thing.

Can't be bothered to look for a post calling for them to be charged with murder? Can't find one, you mean!

[7by7]

What is the final outcome you want to see from all this 7by7?

At the very least similar action to that taken by the BBC in the case I quoted earlier.

That is, the contracts of the two presenters and whoever authorised the broadcasting of the call to be terminated immediately without any pay in lieu of notice.

As this is not the first time the radio station has been guilty of this type of thing then I would also expect them to have to pay a heavy fine to the Australian broadcasting regulator.

I also hope that the family can sue the presenters and the radio station for a very large sum.

Whether any criminal charges can, or will be, brought is a matter for the police.

[Chicog]

My condolences.

I do not believe that a bad impersonation of the queen was what caused her to committ suicide. I believe that the woman must of had some pre exsiting psych problems. I listened to it and if the two woman couldn't tell this was not the real queen then they couldn't be to British. Even Aussies know that the queen wouldn't make her own phone call to get permission to come in for a visit and who would tell the Queen sorry visiting hours are only after 9 a.m?

"I don't care if your the Queen of Bloody England" as the saying goes. I think the nurse knew very well it was a prank call.

I actually do know one nurse who, having recently started at a Gulf hospital, berated an Arab gentleman who wandered in after visiting hours.

Fortunately this particular monarch had a sense of humour and had a good laugh with her when someone pointed out that he was, in fact, the ruler of the country!

[chiang mai]

My condolences.

I do not believe that a bad impersonation of the queen was what caused her to committ suicide. I believe that the woman must of had some pre exsiting psych problems. I listened to it and if the two woman couldn't tell this was not the real queen then they couldn't be to British. Even Aussies know that the queen wouldn't make her own phone call to get permission to come in for a visit and who would tell the Queen sorry visiting hours are only after 9 a.m?

"I don't care if your the Queen of Bloody England" as the saying goes. I think the nurse knew very well it was a prank call.

You do understand that the nurse was from India!

[Scott]

I don't know how relevant the information is about the nurse being from India, but is this true? Is she actually from India or is her ethnic background Indian?

[canman]

A watched a story on this last night. She is Indian and her family who all lived in India were interviewed for the news story. While it is possible a native brit may have picked up on the hoax, I don't think it is germain to the issue. Why a woman who is also apparently a devout catholic with a loving family would commit suicide because of this is a mystery. I wonder how much she was hounded by the local press?

[Humbugged]

A watched a story on this last night. She is Indian and her family who all lived in India were interviewed for the news story. While it is possible a native brit may have picked up on the hoax, I don't think it is germain to the issue. Why a woman who is also apparently a devout catholic with a loving family would commit suicide because of this is a mystery. I wonder how much she was hounded by the local press?

or maybe marital issues....not always in the public or family eye.

[chiang mai]

I don't know how relevant the information is about the nurse being from India, but is this true? Is she actually from India or is her ethnic background Indian?

She moved from India to the UK ten years ago. along with her partner, as such she would have lesser of an appreciation for the Queens voice and whether or not the Queen makes her own telephone calls and she would certainly have a stronger work ethic than her peer group.

[GentlemanJim]

I don't know how relevant the information is about the nurse being from India, but is this true? Is she actually from India or is her ethnic background Indian?

Culture would be very relevant.

[chiang mai]

Just a thought:

If the DJ's (or others) claim that the receptionist should have known that it was a hoax by virtue of their Australian accents, should they have not realised that the recptionists accent wasn't pure Anglo Saxon and should that not have raised a red flag of some sort.

[chooka]

She answered the phone and transfered the call, all of about 5 seconds of conversation. I just can't see anything in her part of the prank that would have lead her to do what she did. (may she rest in peace)

(Telephone rings)

Receptionist: Hello, good morning, King Edward VII Hospital.

Greig (Queen's voice): Oh hello there, could I please speak to Kate please, my granddaughter.

Receptionist: Oh yes, just hold on ma'am.

Greig: Thank you.

Christian: Are they putting us through?

Greig: Yes.

Christian: If this has worked, it's the easiest prank call we have ever made. Your accent sucked, by the way, I just want you to know.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/full-transcript-hoax-call-by-2dayfm-djs-20121210-2b5gr.html#ixzz2EiTxOZUK

[Jingthing]

Imagine if she had said, how do I know you're the Queen if it was the Queen? Awkward.

[Ferangled]

Do you know anymore than us? If so please tell us. From the various news reports, hosptial and neighbours comments there is nothing to suggest any other signifcant problem. Thereore it is reasonable to think that this call and the follow up to it had such an affect.

We will probably never know - but we do know for sure how these idiots behaved. People react differently and have different fears and trigger points. What is insignificant to you may be a matter of life and death to another.

These types of pranks are done all the time all over the world. People don't commit suicide over them.

This case would prove that statement rather false... perhaps rather than brushing this off as a "prank" we should call it what it really is, bullying; emotional bullying for the sake of getting a few laughs, not that far removed from what promotes most playground bullies.

There is bullying all of over the world, particularly evident in most schools. Most children shrug it off and deal with it but others don't. In some it creates life long issues of insecurity in others promotes them to become bullies themselves. A boy in my class at school decided to end his life as a direct result of the same sort of bullying that almost all of us were subjected to as children. There were no physical assaults involved, just daily name calling & teasing, all to gain a rise out of the other children and make the bully feel superior by getting a few laughs.

Was it then this boys fault that he was overly sensitive or ill equipped to deal with bullying or was his death a direct result of the bullying itself? A rational mind would perhaps conclude it was a combination of both but it's undeniable that the actions of one boy led to the death of the other. It may seem acceptable to some because those doing the bullying in this case are media personalities but whenever you make the conscious decision to make fun of someone else with that decision must come some acceptance of the responsibility for the actions that your humour leads to.

If someone made fun of a large, strong man and received a punch in the face for making them the butt of their jokes, we'd all pretty much accept it as "som num na", you were asking for it. Why is it that if an individual less well equipped to defend themselves is made the butt of a joke we tend to absolve all responsibility when an opposite outcome is provoked? Perhaps part of our "survival of the fittest" make up...

It's only a harmless prank when no one is harmed as a result and if someone feels they need to end their own life as a result of being the butt of your joke it would be a pretty soulless individual that could absolve themselves of all responsibility... legalities aside there is a moral compass that guides most of us and it's usually when devoid of one we look to the other to guide us.

[chuckd]

Here are a few more cases of a "harmless prank" going wrong. I feel quite certain the pranksters felt what they were doing was humorous as well.

It happens more often than our apologists think.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://en.wikipedia...._Tyler_Clementi

http://en.wikipedia...._of_Megan_Meier

http://en.wikipedia....f_Ryan_Halligan

http://en.wikipedia...._of_Amanda_Todd

[7by7]

I wonder how much she was hounded by the local press?

As the hospital had not released the names of the nurses involved in this call, she would not have been 'hounded by the local press.'

She was not a receptionist; she was a nurse. It was late at night when the call was made; no receptionist was on duty, so nursing staff had to deal with any calls.

[Humbugged]

I wonder how much she was hounded by the local press?

As the hospital had not released the names of the nurses involved in this call, she would not have been 'hounded by the local press.'

She was not a receptionist; she was a nurse. It was late at night when the call was made; no receptionist was on duty, so nursing staff had to deal with any calls.

So its the hospitals fault then very clearly.

[GentlemanJim]

I wonder how much she was hounded by the local press?

As the hospital had not released the names of the nurses involved in this call, she would not have been 'hounded by the local press.'

She was not a receptionist; she was a nurse. It was late at night when the call was made; no receptionist was on duty, so nursing staff had to deal with any calls.

And perhaps there-in lies a clue. A dedicated hard working professional, who has strived to make her own place in the hospital having arrived from India 10 years earlier. Hard working, tired, lives, eats and breaths Nursing, and probably very proud at what she has achieved. Then the prank goes down, leaving her totally professionally devastated, unable to even think of looking co-workers in the eye and feeling totally responsible for (as she perceives it..) bringing shame and ridicule on her friends, collegues, team and Hospital. In some cultures, and with some people , shame is just to much to bear.

[chooka]

Here are a few more cases of a "harmless prank" going wrong. I feel quite certain the pranksters felt what they were doing was humorous as well.

It happens more often than our apologists think.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://en.wikipedia...._Tyler_Clementi

http://en.wikipedia...._of_Megan_Meier

http://en.wikipedia....f_Ryan_Halligan

http://en.wikipedia...._of_Amanda_Todd

Actually the examples you give are of Cyber Bullying. There is a very huge difference between a woman taking a 5 second telephone call at her place of work and transfering that call to the appropriate person, to teenagers who had been harrassed, tormented and teased on social networks like facebook for months. Tragic are the examples that you give but you can't compare.

There is nothing to suggest that the poor woman in this topic took her own life simply due to a phone call she answered. It is speculation and unfounded. From what I have read she had moved into the nurses quarters why was that?