- The Duke of Cambridge wrote the letter for family of Jacintha Saldanha
- Nurse committed suicide at the hospital where Kate gave birth in 2012
- She had been duped by a hoax phone call from Australian radio DJs
- William said the woman 'looked after us both so well' throughout stay
- Ben Barboza, Mrs Saldanha's husband, received thousands of letters
As he sifts through the hundreds of letters of condolence received after the death of his wife, Ben Barboza handles one in particular with a special reverence.
The crisp white envelope bears a Buckingham Palace postmark and the hand-written card inside is emblazoned with a ‘W’ monogram.
But the document’s special significance for Ben and his family is not so much because it bears the unmistakeable hallmarks of the future king, but rather the simple expression of human decency and kindness contained within.
Prince William wrote the emotionally-charged letter on behalf of himself and his wife three weeks after Jacintha Saldanha committed suicide at the hospital where she worked as a night sister.
She had been duped by a hoax phone call from DJs at an Australian radio station trying to get information about Kate, who had been admitted to the hospital during her pregnancy with Prince George.
Details of the letter from William – and also of other notes from Sarah Ferguson and her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie – were shared with The Mail on Sunday by Ben and his children as they gave their first interview about the devastating impact Ms Saldanha’s death two years ago has had on the family.
Ben also revealed that he cannot forgive the radio station that set up the prank call – while his son Junal, 18, told how he too contemplated suicide as he struggled to come to terms with the loss of his mother.
William’s note, written on New Year’s Day, three weeks after the tragedy and while he was stationed on Anglesey on helicopter search-and-rescue missions, said: ‘Jacintha and her colleagues looked after us both extremely well, and I am just so sorry that someone who cared for others so much found themselves in such a desperate situation.’
The nurse's husband and two children received thousands of letters and emails following the nurse's death
The Duchess of York recalled the death of her own mother, Susan Barrantes, in a road accident in Argentina in 1998 when she addressed two cards to Junal and his 17-year-old sister, Lisha.
To Lisha, Sarah wrote: ‘I send so much love for your broken heart. I am so sorry you are without your Mummy. I lost mine in a car crash, and it is so final, and you wish you had said Goodbye and said so much.’ She also sent each of them a fountain pen.
Ben, 50, whose wife kept her own surname after they married in 1993, said the messages, along with 6,000 others in letter and electronic form from well-wishers all around the world, brought some much-needed strength and comfort to his family at their lowest ebb.
Their tragedy unfolded after Kate was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in London with severe morning sickness in December 2012. The DJs, Mel Greig and Mike Christian, placed a bogus call to the hospital, posing as the Queen and the Prince of Wales inquiring about Kate’s condition.
Ms Saldanha, 46, was night sister and took the call then transferred it through to the ward. The resulting recording of the conversation with Ms Saldanha, who was known as Jess, and a colleague went viral and was heard all over the world.
Two days after it was broadcast, Jess was found dead in her nurse’s flat, having hanged herself with a scarf and cut her wrists.
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Two years on, Mr Barboza, still can’t believe the audacity of the DJs or their bosses at the radio station who sanctioned the broadcast.
‘I am just really angry, why did they do that? ‘ he said. ‘Just a matter of three or four seconds changed our whole life. They were making some kind of mockery saying, “OK, we fooled them.” I can’t forgive the people who broadcast that.’
Inside the family’s neat semi in Southmead, Bristol, photographs of Jess adorn almost every wall, along with religious verses, a reflection of the family’s devout Roman Catholicism. Mr Barboza said: ‘She was a beautiful lady, brilliant, courageous, and very professional.
‘She was a lovely wife, a very good mother for the children and a helping hand for many people. Still I can’t believe she is not with us,’
Junal revealed how deeply the tragedy had affected him.
He said: ‘I hit the lowest of the lows. It’s been difficult, and if it wasn’t for my friends and family I don’t think I’d be here right now.’
Christmas signals an inevitably grim reminder of their loss – as do photographs of Prince George.
Mr Barboza said: ‘We don’t feel like it is Christmas without her, it’s just another day for us. She was the one who used to buy the gifts and everything. She was the one who would create the Christmas atmosphere.
‘We will always think of Jess when Christmas comes or when we see the Prince or his parents,’ he added. ‘That is why the card from William is so precious to us, as well as the ones from the Duchess of York. They remind us there are people who care about us, however important they are.’
Keith Vaz, the MP for Leicester East, who has been helping the Saldanha family, said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had taken ‘enormous interest’ in the family’s plight and asked to be kept updated.
He said: ‘The concern and sympathy the Royal couple have shown is just outstanding. Mr Barboza is extremely grateful.’
The Queen’s physician, professor John Cunningham, who knew Jess, also wrote to her husband saying: ‘She was without doubt one of the three or four best nurses that I have ever encountered in approximately 40 years of medical practice.’
Jess would travel to London by coach and work seven nights on and seven off at the prestigious hospital, retiring each night to her small room in the nurses’ accommodation. She called her husband and children most days.
The phone call from the DJs at 2Day FM came into the hospital at 5.30am on Tuesday, December 4 – two days after Kate had been admitted. Jess put their call through to the ward where Kate was being treated and another nurse revealed details of her condition.
The conversation was broadcast the following day.
Jess made no mention of the prank when she spoke to Ben that night, but he is convinced she must have been crushed by the humiliation.
He said: ‘It was the humiliation she felt, and the guilt. I go over that in my mind, over and over. She didn’t want me to know, to share that humiliation.’
Expecting to hear from his wife on the Thursday, Ben called Jess several times, but when there was no answer, he assumed that, not for the first time, she had lost her mobile phone.
By Friday, he began to worry, and phoned one of Jess’s friends to ask her to check on his wife. It transpired that Jess had not turned up for a hospital training day. Her colleagues had assumed she had gone home. Police discovered her body that morning.
The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in central London (pictured above) with severe morning sickness in December 2012
Ben found out at work, 120 miles away in Bristol, when he returned from lunch. ‘My senior manager and another colleague took me to a small meeting room and two uniformed police officers were sitting there. One of them told me my wife was dead. They said, “She took her own life.” I was hysterical, I was crying like anything.’
Ben was still unaware of the prank call, but soon his wife’s death was headline news all over the world. He broke the awful news to Junal and Lisha as they arrived home from school.
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