Nurse at centre of Duchess of Cambridge phone call hoax was found hanged in flat alongside 'suicide note'

Jacintha Saldanha is understood to have been dead for some time

The nurse at the centre of the Duchess of Cambridge hoax phone call tragedy was found hanging in her apartment, it was reported today.

Jacintha Saldanha was discovered in the nurses’ quarters close to the King Edward VII hospital in central London on Friday morning.

The Evening Standard reported that she is understood to have been dead for some time.

Last Tuesday the 46-year-old mother of two transferred a phone call from two Australian radio DJs pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, to the ward where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for acute morning sickness.

A second nurse then revealed personal information about the Duchess’ condition to the hoax callers.

Mrs Saldanha was the senior nurse on duty at the hospital in Marylebone when the phone call was made at 5:30am last Tuesday.

Yesterday it emerged that a suicide note was found alongside Mrs Saldanha’s body.

She had not told her family that she was involved in the hoax call incident in any way, meaning the suicide note could provide the only clue to Mrs Saldanha’s state of mind when she chose to take her own life.

Mrs Saldanha’s family today spoke of their anxiety over her death.

Her brother Naveen, who lives in Mangalore said: “We are under tremendous stress of what is happening there and are worried.”

He added he was hoping for the body to be released to the family this week so they could start making arrangements for her funeral in India.

The family have also repeated demands for a full inquiry into Mrs Saldanha’s death.

Although bosses have stated it will conduct internal inquiries, Mrs Saldanha’s husband Ben, 49, and their two children Junal, 17 and Lisha, 14, say they need to “know everything”.

Labour MP Keith Vaz, who is representing the family, met with the hospital chairman Lord Glenarthur to demand a full inquiry into her death.

He said: “The family should be given the full facts. That’s what they need at this time.”

Prime Minister David Cameron agreed that the family should be given all the facts when he was questioned by Mr Vaz at the House of Commons liaison committee yesterday.

Bosses at the Australian radio station, 2Day FM, which made the hoax call, have come under fire for giving the go-ahead for the prank.

They said they would be donating a minimum of £326,643 to a memorial fund set up in Mrs Saldanha’s name by King Edward VII Hospital, and have also cancelled their Christmas party.

The results of the post-mortem examination will be released tomorrow at the opening of the inquest into her death.