The radio personalities called King Edward VII's Hospital and bluffed their way through the first nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, and found themselves speaking to a second nurse. Although a breach of propriety if you're British, to the Aussies the conversation was nothing more than an amusement. Here's a transcript of a portion of it.
Nurse : Good morning, Mum, this is the nurse speaking. How may I help you?
Greig (as Queen Elizabeth II): Hello, I'm just after my granddaughter, Kate. I want to see how her little tummy bug is going.
Christian (as Prince Charles): Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!
Nurse: She's asleep at the moment and she's had an uneventful night. And sleep is good for her. As we speak she's been getting some fluids to rehydrate her. She was quite dehydrated when she came in. But, she's stable at the moment.
Greig: Okay, I'll just feed my little corgies then. (deejay barks in the background) So, when is a good time to come and visit because I'm the Queen and I need to come down there. Uh Prince Charles! Charles!
Christian: Mummy, is (unintelligible) okay?
Greig: When can you take me to the hospital, Charles?
Christian: When will it be alright to come down and see her? Maybe in the morning or something if that's okay...
There was more conversation before and after the excerpt above but that's the gist of it. Listen to the call on YouTube. The Australian radio hosts thought they were providing entertainment and good fun to their audience, granted at the expense of the Royals and the unfortunate nurse who happen to be on duty.
Prank Goes Sideways
But, this story gets ugly. Nurse Jacintha Saldanha, the first nurse who put the call through to the second one, was found dead at an apartment near the hospital. Suicide is suspected. This happened two days after the phone prank.
Admittedly, this is a bizarre turn of events which some might argue could not be anticipated.
