LONDON: A nurse at the hospital which treated Prince William’s pregnant wife Catherine has been found dead in a suspected suicide, days after being duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station.

The royal couple said that they were “deeply saddened” by Jacintha Saldanha’s death on Friday and the radio station announced that it had taken the two presenters who made the call off the air until further notice.

Police said that Saldanha’s death was unexplained but was not being treated as suspicious. Her employers, the private King Edward VII hospital in central London, refused to comment on media reports that she had taken her own life.

Police said that they were called to an address close to the hospital on Friday, following reports that a woman was unconscious, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Saldanha had accepted a hoax call from the two presenters pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William’s father Prince Charles, before passing it on to a colleague who divulged details of Kate’s condition.

The hoax caused a global media storm, coming barely a day after the palace revealed that the 30-year-old royal was pregnant following her admission to the hospital on Monday with severe morning sickness. She stayed three nights.

In what it billed as the “biggest royal prank ever,” presenter Mel Greig from Sydney’s 2Day FM station called the hospital on Tuesday pretending to be the queen and asked to speak to the former Kate Middleton.

Saldanha said, “Oh yes, just hold on, Ma’am,” before putting her through to another nurse who revealed that Kate “hasn’t had any retching with me since I’ve been on duty and she has been sleeping on and off.”

2Day FM’s owners Southern Cross Austereo said that Greig and her co-host Michael Christian “are both deeply shocked” at the news of Saldanha’s death.

The chief executive of the hospital, John Lofthouse, said that the nurse’s death was “tragic.”

“Jacintha was a first-class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds of patients during her time with us” over the last four years,” he said.

The family of the nurse, who reportedly had two children, appealed for privacy while they came to terms with her death.

St. James’ Palace, the office of William and Kate, also offered its condolences and stressed that it had not complained about the prank.

“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha,” the palace said.

“Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha’s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time.”

A spokesman later added: “At no point did the palace complain to the hospital about the incident. On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times.”