LONDON, July 24 (UPI) — Prince Charles made a long-planned visit to flood-stricken areas Tuesday in northern England before hurrying south to London to meet his new grandson. …read more
Tag Archives: Prince Charles
'Morning, grandad' — crowds cheer Prince Charles
Cheering crowds congratulated Britain’s Prince Charles Tuesday on the birth of his first grandson, although the heir to the throne and his wife Camilla refrained from dropping any hints about the baby’s name. …read more
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British royal pregnancy a trial for Kate
The Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy has seen her endure illness, media frenzies, bikini shot scandals and a prank that ultimately ended in tragedy.
The news that Prince William’s wife Catherine was expecting a baby was released on December 3, after she was taken to hospital suffering from acute morning sickness.
Three days earlier, Kate had shown no sign of discomfort as she played hockey on a visit to one of her former schools.
The new arrival will be directly in line to inherit the British throne after William, who is second-in-line after his father Prince Charles.
But joy at the news of a baby tinged with concern for the duchess’s condition, soon turned to anger and then tragedy.
During her three-night stay at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London, a hoax phonecall made by two Australian radio presenters — pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William’s father Prince Charles — resulted in details of Kate’s condition being divulged.
The stunt, by Michael Christian and Mel Greig, triggered a global media storm of its own and sparked a backlash against the presenters and the radio network.
Jacintha Saldanha, the Indian nurse who answered and put through the call, was found hanged on December 7, having taken her own life.
William and Kate were left “deeply saddened” by her death, a spokesman said.
England’s state prosecutors eventually decided not to bring any charges against the radio hosts, saying that “however misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank”.
Looking well, Kate returned to public duties on December 16 at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, handing Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins the main trophy.
But in February, pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge holidaying on the Caribbean island of Mustique were printed in Italian and Australian publications, showing Kate in a bikini, her baby bump clearly visible.
Infuriated, St James’s Palace called it a “clear breach of the couple’s right to privacy”. It came after topless pictures of the duchess had been published the previous September, incensing the royals.
Britain’s media got themselves into a frenzy in early March, believing Kate had accidentally given away the sex of their baby while meeting members of the public on a visit to a fishing town.
National newspapers ran front-page headlines reading “It’s a girl!”.
However, recordings of the exchange revealed nothing of the sort.
“Is this for us? Oh, thank-you so much, it’s very, very sweet of you,” she said as she was handed a teddy bear.
“Did you nearly say my daughter?” a 67-year-old woman a few metres away asked shortly afterwards.
“No, no, no,” the duchess replied. “We don’t know”.
But the molecule of confusion was enough to get the papers all in a lather.
“Obviously, Will’s grown up in it, but Kate’s become very used to that kind of circus,” said Claire Irvin, editor-in-chief of Mother and Baby magazine.
The duchess carried out her final solo public engagement on June 13, launching a new liner in the southern English port of Southampton, sending a 15-litre bottle of champagne smashing into its hull.
Two days later …read more
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New Archbishop of Canterbury enthroned
The new archbishop of Canterbury was formally enthroned Thursday — and questions about the Church of England‘s opposition to same-sex marriage greeted his promotion.
Justin Welby is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, serving as head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the world’s 77 million-strong Anglican Communion.
Welby was formally enthroned at the 900-year-old Canterbury Cathedral in southern England before politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron and religious leaders. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, also attended.
Dressed in a cope, stole and a gold-colored silk mitre, Welby symbolically struck the cathedral’s west door three times with the end of his staff to formally request admission to the cathedral.
As the doors opened slowly, a choir welcomed Welby with a psalm.
Earlier in the day, Welby talked to the BBC about some of the issues that have dogged his predecessors and led to deep divisions within the church.
He acknowledged that many gays have enduring relationships of “stunning” quality — a fact he said that has “deeply challenged” his own views on gay marriage.
He also predicted in a Channel Five interview that there will be a female archbishop in the future despite the failure to pass legislation backing the idea last year.
From Rome, Pope Francis sent a message congratulating Welby and calling for a meeting in the near future.
“Please be assured of my prayers as you take up your new responsibilities,” the pope said.
Australian DJ in Kate Middleton prank call controversy returns to airwaves
One of the DJs who was involved in a prank call to Kate Middleton‘s hospital – which led to the suicide of a nurse – has returned to the airwaves in Australia.
Michael Christian was booted from Sydney-based 2Day FM in December after he and show co-host Mel Greig pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles in a call to a hospital in London where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for a pregnancy-related illness, The Guardian reports.
The nurse who answered the call, Jacintha Saldanha, forwarded it to the room where Middleton was being treated. Saldanha killed herself three days later.
Christian resurfaced Monday as the host of a weekday morning music show on Fox FM in Melbourne, owned by Southern Cross Austereo, which also runs 2Day FM, the Guardian reports.
In the first show Christian made no mention of the controversy and did not take calls.
Southern Cross Austereo CEO Ryhs Holleran praised Christian’s return.
“We are happy to have Michael back on air,” he said. “We have always supported our talent returning to work when appropriate and today marks that occasion for MC.”
British prosecutors decide whether to press charges against royal hoax DJs
British prosecutors said Friday they will not press charges against two Australian DJs over the royal hoax call that preceded a nurse’s suicide.
Two Australian DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Prince Charles, as they phoned London’s King Edward VII hospital in December to ask about the condition of the Duchess of Cambridge, formerly Kate Middleton, who had been hospitalized for treatment of acute morning sickness stemming from her pregnancy.
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who put the call through to a colleague who in turn described the details of Kate’s condition, was found hanged in her room three days after the prank was broadcast across the world.
Prosecutors on Friday said there was no evidence to support a charge of manslaughter, and despite “some evidence” to warrant further investigation of offenses under Britain’s Data Protection Act and Malicious Communications Act, any potential prosecution would not be in the public interest.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that decision was taken because it isn’t possible to extradite from Australia for those potential offenses, and because “however misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank.”
DJs Michael Christian and Mel Greig –apologized after Saldanha’s death in emotional interviews on Australian television, saying they never expected their call would be put through.
The radio show behind the call, the “Hot 30” program, was taken off air following Saldanha’s death and later canceled.
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Australian radio show behind royal pregnancy prank canceled
The Australian radio show behind a hoax phone call to the London hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was being treated has been officially canceled.
The show and the two DJs behind the prank in December were widely condemned after the death of a nurse who answered the phone and helped the DJs get confidential information about the former Kate Middleton‘s health.
The “Hot 30” program was taken off air following the death of the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, and the Australian Associated Press reported Monday that Southern Cross Austereo, the parent company of radio station 2DayFM, announced the program had been formerly canceled.
The AAP quoted Southern Cross Austereo Chief Executive Rhys Holleran as saying DJs Michael Christian and Mel Greig will go back on the air.
“We look forward to Mel and MC returning to work when the time is right, in roles that make full use of their talents,” Holleran said in a statement Monday.
The DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Prince Charles, as they phoned London‘s King Edward VII hospital in the early hours of Dec. 4 to ask about the condition of the Duchess of Cambridge, who had been hospitalized there after suffering from severe morning sickness.
The DJs’ shaky upper-crust accents were apparently enough to fool Saldanha, who put them through to a colleague who in turn described the details of Kate’s condition.
The call went viral and was broadcast the world over. But the incident took a darker turn after Saldanha’s body was found hanging in her room three days after the prank. It was an apparent suicide that many have assumed was related to the stress from the call.
Greig and Christian apologized in emotional interviews on Australian television, saying they never expected their call would be put through.
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'Not to be published' Diana photo sells for $18G
A photo marked “not to be published” that shows a teenage Diana Spencer before she became Princess of Wales has been sold by a New Hampshire auction house for more than $18,000.
The photograph shows a group of friends relaxing during a ski trip, with Diana reclining on a bed, with a young man seated behind her and a bottle of whiskey on the window sill.
It was acquired by a British newspaper just after her engagement Prince Charles, but someone at the paper wrote “not to be published” across it, presumably because it would’ve embarrassed the royal family.
RR Auction in Amherst, N.H., says the photo sold in the online auction Thursday to a real estate investor from San Diego for $18,306, well above early estimates.
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Nurse who killed herself after royal prank reportedly attempted suicide twice before
The nurse who committed suicide after becoming the victim of an international radio prank had a history of mental illness and had attempted suicide twice in the last year, according to an Indian newspaper.
Jacintha Saldanha was fooled by a live prank call on Dec. 5 from two Australian radio hosts pretending to be the British queen and Prince Charles. Saldanha, 46, let the call through and transferred it to another nurse, who provided private medical information about Kate Middleton‘s condition.
The call was broadcast all around the world, and two days later, Saldanha was found hanging by a scarf in the nursing staff quarters of London’s King Edward VII Hospital.
India‘s Deccan Herald reports that last December, Saldanha joined her husband and two children—ages 14 and 17—at a family wedding in Mangalore, in southern India. The family celebrated Christmas together but just days later, Saldanha was admitted to a hospital.
The U.K.’s Daily Mail reports she overdosed on pills in her first suicide attempt on Dec. 30, 2011, and nine days later, tried to jump from a building.
Signs of depression and suicidal tendencies apparently continued through September, but it is not clear whether she could be regularly supervised because she lived at the nursing staff quarters alone, while her husband and children lived in Bristol, England.
Saldanha’s family has previously denied that the nurse had a history of depression and would not comment on the reports of her previous suicide attempts.
Relatives told the Daily Mail that Saldanha was so distraught about her role in the prank, she did not tell her husband or children about it before she died, despite speaking to them on the phone several times.
When asked about the previous suicide attempts, Saldanha’s younger brother, Naveen Saldanha, told the Mail, “We didn’t know about the first incident, but we knew about the second.”
He refused to comment further but said he believed she didn’t tell her family about the involvement in the hoax because she felt ashamed.
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Prosecutors mull possible charges in royal prank call case
Prosecutors are weighing whether to press charges over a royal hoax call that preceded a nurse’s apparent suicide, police said Saturday.
Two Australian DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and her son, Prince Charles, as they phoned London’s King Edward VII hospital in the early hours of Dec. 4 to ask about the condition of the Duchess of Cambridge, formerly Kate Middleton, who had been hospitalized there after suffering from acute morning sickness stemming from her pregnancy.
The DJs’ shaky upper-crust accents were apparently enough to fool 46-year-old nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who put them through to a colleague who in turn described the details of Kate’s condition.
The call — complete with the DJs’ laughter at their luck — went viral and was broadcast the world over. But the incident took a darker turn after Saldanha’s body was found hanging in her room three days after the prank.
The DJs, 2DayFM’s Mel Greig and Michael Christian, apologized for the prank in emotional interviews on Australian television, saying they never expected their call would be put through. The show was taken off the air and the DJs have been suspended.
In a statement, London’s Metropolitan Police said that they had submitted a file to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “to consider whether any potential offenses may have been committed by making the hoax call.”
It’s not clear what charges, if any, prosecutors were considering. The force said they would be making no further comment.
Source: Fox World News
Family attends funeral in India for British hospital nurse duped by royal prank
Family and friends of the nurse found hanging in her room days after she had been duped by a royal hoax call from Australian DJs gathered in a church in south India for her funeral Monday.
Jacintha Saldanha‘s body was kept at her husband’s home in the town of Shirva for a few hours before being taken to the church for a prayer service and burial.
Mourners crowded the Our Lady of Health Church in Shirva for the memorial service before heading to the cemetery in the church grounds. Catholic priests recited prayers as Saldanha’s body was interred in a grave marked by a simple black cross.
Saldanha’s husband and two children had accompanied the body from London, where her death on Dec. 7 is being investigated as an apparent suicide.
Saldanha answered the phone at London‘s King Edward VII Hospital when two DJs from Australian radio station 2DayFM called seeking information about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge, who was being treated for severe morning sickness.
The DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, and Saldanha was tricked into transferring the call to another nurse, who revealed private details about the former Kate Middleton‘s condition.
The DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, apologized for the prank in emotional interviews on Australian TV, saying they never expected their call would be put through. The show was taken off the air and the DJs have been suspended.
Source: Fox World News
Australian radio chairman says station reviewing policy after nurse commits suicide following prank call about Kate Middleton
British police have contacted Australian authorities about a possible investigation into a radio station’s hoax call to a U.K. hospital about the Duchess of Cambridge, they said Sunday, as the company that owns the station promised it is reviewing its broadcast practices.
The prank took a dark twist Friday with the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, a 46-year-old mother of two, three days after she unwittingly accepted the call about the health of Prince William‘s pregnant wife, Kate. The death has sparked an angry backlash from those who argue the Australian DJs who carried out the hoax should be held responsible.
The board of Southern Cross Austereo had an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss a harsh letter from the hospital that fell for the call. King Edward VII’s Hospital, where the former Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness this week, condemned the “truly appalling” hoax and called the consequences “tragic beyond words.”
Max Moore-Wilton, the chairman of 2DayFM owner Southern Cross Austereo, said in a letter to the hospital’s chairman Sunday that the company will cooperate with any investigation.
“It is too early to know the full details leading to this tragic event and we are anxious to review the results of any investigation that may be made available to us or made public,” he wrote. “I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved.”
“As we have said in our own statements on the matter, the outcome was unforeseeable and very regrettable,” he wrote.
Australian police Sunday confirmed they had been contacted by London police and said they would cooperate.
The radio station callers impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and received confidential details about the former Kate Middleton‘s medical information. The call was recorded and broadcast.
Police have not yet determined Saldanha’s cause of death, but people from London to Sydney have been making the assumption she died because of stress from the call.
Both DJs involved apologized for the prank before Saldanha’s death. Their show has been suspended indefinitely and their Twitter accounts have been taken down after they were bombarded by thousands of abusive comments.
The station has a history of controversy, including airing a segment in which a 14-year-old girl revealed that she had been raped. It also ran a series of “Heartless Hotline” shows in which disadvantage people were offered a prize that could be taken away from them by listeners.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates radio broadcasting, says it received complaints from around the world and is considering whether it should launch an investigation
Separately, Prince William on Sunday pulled out of attending the British Military Tournament, billed as “the largest display of military theatre in the world”, citing Kate’s illness.
Officials from St. James’s Palace have said the duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. The child would be the first for her and William.
Source: Fox World News
Royal prank call nurse commits suicide
A nurse caring for the Duchess of Cambridge who was duped by two deejays pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles has committed suicide, officials said.
The nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, was found at an address near King Edward VII Hospital.
“Police were called at approximately 9:35 a.m. this morning to a report of a woman found unconscious,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said. “London Ambulance Service attended and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The death is not being treated as suspicious at this time, the spokesman said.
Saldanha had worked at the hospital for four years, according to a statement released by hospital officials.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies at this time are with her family and friends,” read a statement by chief executive John Lofthouse. “Everyone is shocked by the loss of a much loved and valued colleague.”
Lord Glenarthur, chairman of the hospital, characterized Saldanha as a “first-class” nurse who diligently cared for hundreds of patients.
“She will be greatly missed,” Glenarthur’s statement read.
Two Australian radio personalities pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles tricked the woman into giving an update on the condition of Kate Middleton, 30, who was being treated for morning sickness.
St. James’s Palace announced Monday that the Duchess of Cambridge — formerly Middleton — had a severe form of morning sickness and was being treated at a London hospital with Prince William at her side.
The couple’s first child will be third in line to the throne — behind William and his father, Prince Charles — leapfrogging the gregarious Prince Harry and possibly setting up the first scenario in which a female heir could benefit from new gender rules about succession.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox World News