Australian royal prank DJs claim their bosses MADE them phone the Princess of Wales's hospital and impersonate the late Queen before nurse's suicide
Michael Christian and 2Day FM radio co-host Mel Greig made headlines around the world on December 4, 2012 when they duped staff at King Edward VII's Hospital in London, The Telegraph reported.
The duo convinved nurse Jacintha Saldanha that they were the late Queen and the then-Prince Charles checking in on the Princess of Wales, who at the time was being treated for severe morning sickness while pregnant with Prince George.
Falling for their deception, Ms Saldanha disclosed some of the Princess' private medical information before transferring the call through to the ward.
Humiliated by the telephone prank, the nurse - a mother to two children - later took her own life.
In one of three apparent suicide notes, Ms Saldanha wrote a short letter in which she expressed her deep anger at the Australian radio presenters and blamed them for her tragic death.
The nurse's death led to a huge backlash against the show and brodcaster, with its two presenters forced into hiding after receiving death threats.
In a lawsuit against the station's broadcaster, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), Mr Christian alleges that he was ordered to make the call by the production team only days after starting in the role.
He said that the hoax call breached the Australian Communications and Media Authority code of practice and he should never have been asked to do it.
Mr Christian also said that he was given insufficient support in the wake of Ms Saldanha's suicide.
He claims that the company promised to provide support in the event that any of the antics on the show overstepped the boundaries.
Mr Christian, who lost his job in February, accuses the organisation of turning him and Ms Greig into 'convenient fall guys and scapegoats'.
Mr Christian's lawyers wrote: 'SCA did not immediately take public accountability for the incident, but rather allowed Mr Christian and Ms Greig to be left exposed to relentless public vitriol, harassment and abuse, including death threats.
'The radio presenters were left by SCA as the convenient fall guys and scapegoats for SCA management decisions and non-compliance.'
Mr Christian claims that the incident severely damaged his reputation and earnings potential.
He also claims that he was discouraged from pursing legal action against SCA at the time because they promised that they would help him rebuilding his reputation and career.
Among Mr Christian's greivences are that SCA filed to provide sufficient mental health support or start a PR campaign to clear his name.
He also claims that he was not offered promotions or pay rises to reward his loyalty for sticking with the company, and instead was slowly phased-out.
'When we thought about making a call it was going to go for 30 seconds, we were going to be hung up on, and that was it. As innocent as that,' Mr Christian told Channel Nine's A Current Affair programme less than a week after the prank broke.
Describing him and his co-host as 'shattered, gutted, heartbroken', he said 'no-one could've imagined this to happen.'
'The accents were terrible. You know it was designed to be stupid. We were never meant to get that far from the little corgis barking in the background - we obviously wanted it to be a joke,' Ms Greig added.
'There's nothing that can make me feel worse than what I feel right now. And for what I feel for the family. We're so sorry that this has happened to them.'
Speaking in 2014, Ms Greig revealed that her mother had received death threats, while the 2DayFM presenter herself battled depression.
'I felt like a failure as a human being,' Ms Greig said in a tearful interview with Channel Seven's Sunday Night.
'I am ashamed of myself. I should have tried harder to not let that prank call air.'
At the time of Ms Saldanha's death, the Prince and Princess of Wales said they were 'deeply saddened' by her passing.
For confidential support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org for details
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