Nurse in royal hoax tragedy buried in India

Relatives carry the coffin containing the body of nurse Jacintha Saldanha for burial at her hometown Shirva, near Mangalore in southwest India, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. Nurse Saldanha was found hanging in her room days after she had been duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge. / AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool

SHIRVA, India 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.

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Family mourns nurse in duchess hoax

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.

Jacintha Saldanha's husband Benedict Barboza (center) holds his son Junal, right, and daughter Lisha, during Saldanha's burial service in Shirva, near Mangalore, India, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool

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.

• U.K. police contact Aussie station over hoax
• Anger at Australian radio station over royal hoax
• Royal prank, meant for laughs, ends in tragedy
• Nurse Jacintha Saldanha criticized hospital staff in one of her suicide notes: Report

[old_bard]

This whole business of royalty is a royal crock! Where is the work ethic in this situation? The blue bloods are no better than the average guy on the street, and shouldn't be paid a dime for who their ancestors were! By the way, the wealthy in this country have a form of royalty going for them since they have done away with the inheritance taxes. Apparently our forefathers hatred of royalty has given way to the myth that we somehow need the wealthy and without them every thing would come to a standstill.

[taxed01]

She made the mistake of believing in people being good. Then nobody had her back. Rest In Peace dear lady.

[rwsmith29456]

Amen