Kate Middleton Prank leads to Tragedy

[Bluerang1]

Not sure how many have heard of this story but Kate Middleton was at a hospital and two Australian DJs called in trying to get through to her as a prank, pretending to be the Queen and Prince Phillip. They didn't manage to get through to Kate herself but they made it quite far down to a head nurse I think.

Backlash. The nurse who connected their call to Kate's ward was found dead, suicide is what's suspected.

So are the DJs to blame for embarrassing this nurse to the point where she killed herself, leaving her two children motherless, or was it just a harmless prank?

An article on the story.

Honestly this woman clearly had preexisting issues and the call pushed her to the edge. Perhaps people worship the royals too much and she somehow felt like she did something wrong when all she did was connect the call. Reading comments online regarding the issue, some suggests that the managers gave her grief about connecting the call which lead to her suicide.

All in all I don't see the DJs as doing anything wrong. It was a harmless prank who's only consequence, if any at all, should have been to the DJs and not a nurse who connected a call.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I didn't find the prank itself funny. Attempting to break patient-doctor confidentiality and gain access to private information is horrible.

However, I did find the situation amusing though in that those were horrible accents. It was kind of like the episode of The Simpsons where Homer disguises his voice to intercept a letter for Mr. Burns.

Homer: [trying to disguise his voice] Hello, my name is Mr. Burns. I believe you have a letter for me.
Postal Clerk: Okay, Mr. Burns, uh, what's your first name?
Homer: [brief pause] I... don't know.

That it worked, no, not really funny. She was a medical professional and took her job and responsibility seriously. She probably felt horrible that she betrayed that trust. Maybe she felt like she betrayed her country? Failed in her duty? I think the outcome is extreme, but situation must have effected her. Maybe she was fired for it? Or deeply chastised?

So, I hope those two jerky DJs are proud of themselves :\

 

[Yoshikko]

It's just really tragic yeah, because it isn't anyone's fault and it was a misunderstanding. I don't think it's the DJ's fault because this was not like a consequence that they could have considered. And I think it's strange that someone would kill themselves over this, especially if they have a family. The most you'd think someone would do was just to resign from their job if something like this happened, and even that wouldn't have been necessary.

 

[Shining Raichu]

I've been seeing hate toward the DJs all over Facebook this evening, and it does bother me a little bit. People saying they have blood on their hands and all the rest of it.

What happened was tragic, absolutely. And were they partly responsible for this woman's suicide? Quite possibly. But in the end this was what was supposed to be a harmless prank and while it was of course totally wrong, there was absolutely no way they could have foreseen this outcome. There was no way they could have known. If everybody stopped doing things on the remote possibility that it may at some later stage cause somebody to commit suicide, the world would stop.

 

[Zet]

Just for the record, both those DJs are currently off the air, and are getting counselling because of what happened. An apology has also been issued. It was a tragic event that was meant to be harmless, and this outcome was not expected to happen since they just wanted to know if Kate was fine.


Also we don't know if it was a suicide yet, so it's best that people wait before condemning the actions of the radio DJs.

 

[Hikamaru]

I was totally shocked by this given I'm from Sydney like 2Day FM (the radio station involved) is and this is not the first time that presenters from that radio station landed themselves in trouble.

I also think this was a total invasion of Kate's privacy and it resulted in advertising suspended until Monday, and the presenters being taken off the air.

And even though they're still investigating into the woman's death, there may be a chance she took her own life out of embarrassment. I still feel sorry for that dead woman, and now her two kids are without a mother.

 

[Yoshikko]

I was totally shocked by this given I'm from Sydney like 2Day FM (the radio station involved) is and this is not the first time that presenters from that radio station landed themselves in trouble.

I also think this was a total invasion of Kate's privacy and it resulted in advertising suspended until Monday, and the presenters being taken off the air.

And even though they're still investigating into the woman's death, there may be a chance she took her own life out of embarrassment. I still feel sorry for that dead woman, and now her two kids are without a mother.

Tbh I don't feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for the kids and for the presenters. They must have felt absolute terror when they heard she took her own life, and her kids don't have a mother now.

 

[Tox]

I think that any sort of prank which involves a hospital has already gone too far. I don't think breaching security for entertainment purposes is funny at all, especially when they're wasting time that could be used on someone who needs it. I also didn't like how they bragged about the prank on Twitter.

Do I think it was entirely their fault that the woman committed suicide? Probably not, but the embarrassment they caused for the woman and for the hospital itself was horrible. Some people have enough problems already and are just looking for a reason to go over the edge. Something like this could very well have convinced the woman to end her life, especially since her work colleagues wouldn't forget it and it would always be there to haunt her.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I'm sorry, I just don't buy that this prank was the direct link and causation to this poor woman's suicide. The prank was in bad taste, sure, but there must have been some other serious issues going on in this woman's life in order for her to end it so suddenly. It's a tragic situation for all involved, but the level of vitriol directed at the DJs does seem entirely unwarranted.

 

[Shiny Celebi]

The woman obviously was troubled before this prank. It was meant to be a joke, not to harm anyone, but all the same, what happened was tragic. I do not belive the DJs fully responsible. I dont think people just kill themselves over something like that,but I read what Zet said about it not being proven to be a suicide. The embarrassment possibly had a negative affect on her, but that can't really be proven. I personally dont find that sort of prank funny at all. If it was not a suicide, it's still tragic because the woman died.

 

[Esper]

I'm sure this woman had a lot of pressure and angry words directed toward her from making this mistake. It does seem like there are people to treat the royals like gods who walk the earth. I don't think it was just embarrassment. I don't think even embarrassment can account for pushing even an unbalanced person. It's got to be shame she was feeling, either because she felt she committed some act that she perceived as much worse than it actually was or because others were pushing the same and shaming her for offending the gods royals.

But the DJs? Yeah, not a harmless prank. You don't interfere with hospitals like that. Honestly I feel that shock jocks are among the lowest class of human being.

 

[Oryx]

You can go around tazing people because you like to watch them twitch and they'll live, but eventually you're going to hit someone with a heart condition and kill them.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

The woman obviously was troubled before this prank. It was meant to be a joke, not to harm anyone, but all the same, what happened was tragic. I do not belive the DJs fully responsible. I dont think people just kill themselves over something like that,but I read what Zet said about it not being proven to be a suicide. The embarrassment possibly had a negative affect on her, but that can't really be proven. I personally dont find that sort of prank funny at all. If it was not a suicide, it's still tragic because the woman died.

Oddly, some college of the woman said he'd have done the same thing in her situation (referring to fielding the prank call).

 

[Captain Fabio]

I'm sorry, I just don't buy that this prank was the direct link and causation to this poor woman's suicide. The prank was in bad taste, sure, but there must have been some other serious issues going on in this woman's life in order for her to end it so suddenly. It's a tragic situation for all involved, but the level of vitriol directed at the DJs does seem entirely unwarranted.

Actually, I think it was more the teasing and the complete ripping she got from falling from the prank by everyone she saw and knew it was her, so they indirectly led to it.

I think it is a real shame and shocking, but not sure what the outcome will be...​

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[Shining Raichu]

I've had another thought on this. It's seriously doubtful, but even if this prank was the sole reason for this woman's suicide, only a small portion of the blame actually lies with the DJs themselves. If a dog is off its leash and mauls a toddler to death, you don't blame the dog, you blame the owners. Who was responsible for these DJs?

There is so much more to this than the prank itself. Whose idea was the prank? Was it the DJs, or was it someone else in the studio, was it their writers (assuming radio stars have writers)? And then after the fact, it was out of the DJs' hands. Who is responsible for this being pushed all the way around the world? Who made this go viral the world over?

The owners of the station and the various media outlets from all around the world each have a stake in this woman's death, as do the international public who thought it was absolutely hilarious until the woman killed herself and then all of a sudden developed a "how dare those DJs do this?" frame of mind.

Also, just on a "I really shouldn't be saying this because the woman is dead but come on we're all thinking it" note, how dumb was she? The voices those DJs used were the least convincing British accents I have ever heard in my life, particularly the woman who sounded her own age despite pretending to be the Queen. I don't know how she thought that was legit whatsoever. Even the DJs themselves couldn't believe that they got as much out of her as they did. This was hardly a professional job. I'm not saying it was right for the DJs to do what they did, but at least a little bit of the responsibility goes to the nurse herself.

 

[Oryx]

DJs, unlike dogs, are fully rational human beings. However one has to keep in mind that this same radio station, with different DJs, a few years back caused a 14 year old to admit that she was raped live on air. So there may be something related to the station itself, considering that.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

It's sad that someone got hurt by this awful prank, whether it directly caused her death or not. It's likely she got teased and harrassed by people for letting this happen and it's likely it would've continued.

 

[Her]

I've seen/heard comments from people phrasing their opinion of the situation as if it was the DJs intention to make the woman commit suicide, which it obviously wasn't, but it's an interesting insight into the way some people view the situation. I don't believe that this was the sole reason why she took her life - when my dad did so, there were a lot of factors in his life leading up to the suicide that we as a family did not know about. Obviously this woman had problems in her life leading up to this event, but I think it is fair to say that the stress & the embarrassment caused by the prank drove her over the edge. Think about it, how would you feel if you were the subject of a joke across nations? Not that any of it was her fault, or that she was a joke (in my opinion she wasn't), but to someone who was obviously in an incredibly fragile mental state, all of this would have been too much for her. it's incredibly tragic the way things have turned out, a truly senseless death. But do those DJs have her death on their hands? I don't think so. Did they contribute to her death? Yes. But they couldn't have possibly known that their prank would lead to her suicide. To their credit, they've already gone into counseling, they're clearly expressing remorse for their actions, They'll be changed people after this. That poor woman, though. I hope her family is alright.

Edit: One point that someone on Tumblr brought to my attention a few minutes ago was the power/the lengths the monarchy, let alone the British press, would go to in order to shame someone. Although I don't see why they, or anyone, would try to shame the woman in the first place, considering the call didn't even get through to Kate and the poor woman was only trying to do what she thought was the right thing.

 

[Wobbachomp]

If she really commited suicide because of a prank call despite having 2 kids, then that wasn't the right thing to do. I do think it's absolutely horrible that she died, but seriously? I think the fact the prank happened and she died in such a short amount of time is just pure coincidence.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

Actually, I think it was more the teasing and the complete ripping she got from falling from the prank by everyone she saw and knew it was her, so they indirectly led to it.

I think it is a real shame and shocking, but not sure what the outcome will be...​

​

This.

Like with teens who commit suicide over online bullying. What seems like a million faceless voices criticizing you.