Scotland Yard said Monday the post-mortem on Indian-born nurse Jacintha Saldanha, found dead on Friday morning, will take place at Westminster mortuary on Tuesday.
The post-mortem will help pinpoint the cause of the 46-year-old nurse’s death, now being treated by the police as unexplained, not suspicious. The media has, however, called it an “apparent suicide”.
Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz, who visited Jacintha’s husband Benedict Barboza and children at their Bristol home Sunday, told BBC News the family was absolutely devastated. “They simply cannot understand or cope with what is happening,” he said. The nurse’s family plan to take her body to India for burial after the inquest.
Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian posed as Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales when they rang the hospital where a pregnant Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness. Jacintha took the call and put them through to another nurse who described Kate’s condition.
The two DJs, in a series of interviews with the Australian media on Monday, profusely apologised to Jacintha’s family. “No harm was intended on Jacintha or the other nurse or Kate or Prince William or anyone,” DJ Michael Christian said. “It was an incredibly tragic turn of events ... and for the part we have played we are incredibly sorry.”