10:46 am - 12/05/2012
Two Australian disc jockeys have managed to humiliate the hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge by tricking a nurse on the ward into thinking she was speaking with Queen Elizabeth.
The hoax call to King Edward VII hospital in London went through in the early hours of Tuesday, giving the DJs a description of Kate's condition and treatment.
The hospital admitted it had been victimized by the call from hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian at Australian radio station 2DayFM in Sydney.
A woman doing a less-than-perfect imitation of Queen Elizabeth told the nurse answering the phone: "I'm after my granddaughter, Kate. I want to see how her little tummy bug is going."
In the background, a man evidently imitating Prince Charles, soon to be a grandfather, was saying insistently, "Mummy … Mummy …."
The mimicked monarch was told that Kate, who is being treated for acute morning sickness as she and Prince William expect their first child, "hasn't had any retching with me, and she's been sleeping on and off.
"She's sleeping at the moment, and she has had an uneventful night …. She's been getting some fluids to rehydrate her, because she was quite dehydrated when she came in, but she's stable at the moment."
The hospital says it deplored the prank, and its telephone protocols are being reviewed.
"A fair bit of confidential medical information was given over the phone, which of course is now being broadcast around the world, so … very embarrassing for the hospital," said CBC correspondent Dominic Valitis from London.
The King Edward VII hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge is receiving treatment for acute morning sickness, has admitted it fell victim to a prank phone call from an Australian radio show.
The show's presenters, who pretended to be the Queen and Prince of Wales, were put through to the duchess's private nurse and given details of her medical condition.
The 2Day FM announcers Mel Greig and Michael Christian called in the early hours of Tuesday morning and managed to convince hospital staff despite putting on ridiculous comedy accents, complete with pretend corgis yapping in the background.
The hoax caller said at one point to the nurse: "When is a good time to come and visit her because I'm the Queen and I need a lift down there."
The callers were put through to the nurse after Greig, co-presenting the Summer 30 weeknight show, rang to ask to speak to her "granddaughter Kate". She was put through to a duty nurse who told Greig how the duchess was faring.
During the two-minute call, Greig said to the hospital switchboard operator: "Oh hello there, could I please speak to Kate please, my granddaughter," and was told: "Oh yes. Hold on," and was then put through to the duty nurse. The hoax Queen said: "Kate my darling, are you there?"
The nurse replied: "Good morning ma'am, this is a nurse speaking. How may I help you?" Greig said: "Hello. I'm just after my granddaughter Kate. I wanted to see how her little tummy bug is going."
The presenter was given details about the duchess's condition, and then replied: "OK. I'll just feed my little corgis then." Pretend barking was heard in the background, with a pretend Charles shouting 'Mummy mummy!"
At one point Christian asked: "Is Wills still there, or has he gone home. I haven't spoken to him yet." Greig then said: "When are you going to walk those bloody corgis?" Christian replied: "Mummy, I'll go and take the dogs outside."
In a statement, the hospital said: "King Edward VII's hospital Sister Agnes can confirm that an Australian radio station made a hoax call to the hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning. This call was transferred through to a ward and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff. King Edward VII's hospital deeply regrets this incident."
John Lofthouse, chief executive at the hospital, said: "This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore. We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously and we are now reviewing our telephone protocols."
A spokesman for the royal couple said they would not be making a comment.
Greig and Christian later apologised. They said: "We were very surprised that our call was put through. We thought we'd be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents. We're very sorry if we've caused any issues and we're glad to hear that Kate is doing well."
The prank call was pre-recorded and vetted by lawyers before being broadcast to listeners in Sydney. A spokeswoman for the station said: "2Day FM sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused by the inquiries to Kate's hospital. The radio segment was done with lighthearted intentions. We wish Kate and her family all the best and we're glad to hear she's doing well."
It is not the first time a member of the royal family has been the subject of a prank call. In 1995 a Canadian DJ pretending to be Canada's then prime minister, Jean Chretien, was put through to the Queen and spoke for around 15 minutes, during which he asked her to record a speech in support of Canadian unity before a referendum in Quebec.
On Wednesday William was again visiting his wife in the hospital, where she is receiving treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum.
Meanwhile, the Earl and Countess of Wessex became the first members of the royal family to comment on the duchess's pregnancy. Sophie told journalists she was "absolutely thrilled". "It's the most perfect end to an amazing year," she said. Edward said he had "deep, deep sympathy" for the duchess over her morning sickness.
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Australian radio show makes prank call to hospital treating Kate Middleton
Two Australian disc jockeys have managed to humiliate the hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge by tricking a nurse on the ward into thinking she was speaking with Queen Elizabeth.
The hoax call to King Edward VII hospital in London went through in the early hours of Tuesday, giving the DJs a description of Kate's condition and treatment.
The hospital admitted it had been victimized by the call from hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian at Australian radio station 2DayFM in Sydney.
A woman doing a less-than-perfect imitation of Queen Elizabeth told the nurse answering the phone: "I'm after my granddaughter, Kate. I want to see how her little tummy bug is going."
In the background, a man evidently imitating Prince Charles, soon to be a grandfather, was saying insistently, "Mummy … Mummy …."
The mimicked monarch was told that Kate, who is being treated for acute morning sickness as she and Prince William expect their first child, "hasn't had any retching with me, and she's been sleeping on and off.
"She's sleeping at the moment, and she has had an uneventful night …. She's been getting some fluids to rehydrate her, because she was quite dehydrated when she came in, but she's stable at the moment."
The hospital says it deplored the prank, and its telephone protocols are being reviewed.
"A fair bit of confidential medical information was given over the phone, which of course is now being broadcast around the world, so … very embarrassing for the hospital," said CBC correspondent Dominic Valitis from London.
The King Edward VII hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge is receiving treatment for acute morning sickness, has admitted it fell victim to a prank phone call from an Australian radio show.
The show's presenters, who pretended to be the Queen and Prince of Wales, were put through to the duchess's private nurse and given details of her medical condition.
The 2Day FM announcers Mel Greig and Michael Christian called in the early hours of Tuesday morning and managed to convince hospital staff despite putting on ridiculous comedy accents, complete with pretend corgis yapping in the background.
The hoax caller said at one point to the nurse: "When is a good time to come and visit her because I'm the Queen and I need a lift down there."
The callers were put through to the nurse after Greig, co-presenting the Summer 30 weeknight show, rang to ask to speak to her "granddaughter Kate". She was put through to a duty nurse who told Greig how the duchess was faring.
During the two-minute call, Greig said to the hospital switchboard operator: "Oh hello there, could I please speak to Kate please, my granddaughter," and was told: "Oh yes. Hold on," and was then put through to the duty nurse. The hoax Queen said: "Kate my darling, are you there?"
The nurse replied: "Good morning ma'am, this is a nurse speaking. How may I help you?" Greig said: "Hello. I'm just after my granddaughter Kate. I wanted to see how her little tummy bug is going."
The presenter was given details about the duchess's condition, and then replied: "OK. I'll just feed my little corgis then." Pretend barking was heard in the background, with a pretend Charles shouting 'Mummy mummy!"
At one point Christian asked: "Is Wills still there, or has he gone home. I haven't spoken to him yet." Greig then said: "When are you going to walk those bloody corgis?" Christian replied: "Mummy, I'll go and take the dogs outside."
In a statement, the hospital said: "King Edward VII's hospital Sister Agnes can confirm that an Australian radio station made a hoax call to the hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning. This call was transferred through to a ward and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff. King Edward VII's hospital deeply regrets this incident."
John Lofthouse, chief executive at the hospital, said: "This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore. We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously and we are now reviewing our telephone protocols."
A spokesman for the royal couple said they would not be making a comment.
Greig and Christian later apologised. They said: "We were very surprised that our call was put through. We thought we'd be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents. We're very sorry if we've caused any issues and we're glad to hear that Kate is doing well."
The prank call was pre-recorded and vetted by lawyers before being broadcast to listeners in Sydney. A spokeswoman for the station said: "2Day FM sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused by the inquiries to Kate's hospital. The radio segment was done with lighthearted intentions. We wish Kate and her family all the best and we're glad to hear she's doing well."
It is not the first time a member of the royal family has been the subject of a prank call. In 1995 a Canadian DJ pretending to be Canada's then prime minister, Jean Chretien, was put through to the Queen and spoke for around 15 minutes, during which he asked her to record a speech in support of Canadian unity before a referendum in Quebec.
On Wednesday William was again visiting his wife in the hospital, where she is receiving treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum.
Meanwhile, the Earl and Countess of Wessex became the first members of the royal family to comment on the duchess's pregnancy. Sophie told journalists she was "absolutely thrilled". "It's the most perfect end to an amazing year," she said. Edward said he had "deep, deep sympathy" for the duchess over her morning sickness.
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they had nothing better to do did they
On December 3, 2004, the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, Andy Bichlbaum appeared on BBC World as "Jude Finisterra",[12] a Dow Chemical spokesman.[13] Dow is the owner of Union Carbide, the company responsible for the chemical disaster which killed thousands and left over 120,000 requiring lifelong care.
On their fake Dow Chemical website, the Yes Men said that Dow Chemical Company had no intention whatsoever of repairing the damage.[14] The real company received considerable backlash, and both the real Dow and the phony Dow denied the statements, but Dow took no real action.
The Yes Men decided to pressure Dow further, so as "Finisterra," Bichlbaum went on the news to claim that Dow planned to liquidate Union Carbide and use the resulting $12 billion to pay for medical care, clean up the site, and fund research into the hazards of other Dow products. After two hours of wide coverage, Dow issued a press release denying the statement, ensuring even greater coverage of the phony news of a cleanup. In Frankfurt, Dow's share price fell 4.24 percent in 23 minutes, wiping $2 billion off its market value. The shares rebounded in Frankfurt after the BBC issued an on-air correction and apology. In New York, Dow Chemical's stock were little changed.[15]
After the original interview was revealed as a hoax, Bichlbaum appeared in a follow-up interview on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 news.[16] During the interview he was asked if he had considered the emotions and reaction of the people of Bhopal when producing the hoax. According to the interviewer, "there were many people in tears" upon having learned of the hoax. Bichlbaum said that, in comparison, what distress he had caused the people was minimal to that for which Dow was responsible. The Yes Men claim on their website that they have been told by contacts in Bhopal that once they had got over their disappointment that it wasn't real, they were pleased about the stunt and thought it had helped to raise awareness of their plight.[17]
At the International Payments Conference on April 28, 2005, 'Dow representative' "Erastus Hamm" unveiled Acceptable Risk, the Acceptable Risk Calculator, and the Acceptable Risk mascot — a life-sized golden skeleton named Gilda — to an audience of about 70 banking professionals.
In February 2012, it was widely reported in the 2012 Stratfor email leak that Dow Chemical Company hired private intelligence firm Stratfor to monitor the Yes Men.[18
I kind of love them
now keep in mind that he's a professional comedian and that's his baby. It's adorably glorious.
seriously she should just marry larry king because they are never gonna die
heh.
I imagine Kate being there is already really stressful and privacy laws are so confusing (at least here in the US)
I work in a hospital and it's so fucking easy to violate HIPAA without even knowing you're doing it.
Someone is getting fired.
The nurse should have politely declined information. The aussies should get backlash.
His accent in both languages is distinct but it would be unfamiliar to someone working in the place staff so I could see them getting tricked that way.
Yeah, it's a big screw up, but i mean. idk. I can see how it would happen.
I bet that nurse feels like the biggest asshole rn, though. :(