Westminster Cathedral will honour Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who was found dead after transferring a hoax call at King Edward VII hospital, with a memorial service held on Saturday. Jacintha was found on December 7 at her home in London near the hospital where she worked after apparently taking her own life.Seen walking the to the Cathedral were Jacintha's late husband Benedict Barboza, her son Junal, 16, and 14-year-old daughter Lisha. Labour politician and MP for Leicester East Keith Vaz MP also joined the group.
In a short statement a spokesperson for the Cathedral said the mass will be offered "for the repose of the soul of Jacintha and her grieving family. "A private memorial service was held on Friday at King Edward VII Hospital in central London where the mother-of-two was remembered by colleagues who have been saddened by her death.
Chief executive of the hospital, John Lofthouse, said: "King Edward VII's is a small hospital, with a tight-knit team. Everybody knew Jacintha, and we were all left deeply shocked by her tragic death following the hoax telephone call. He added "this service was a chance for everyone here to pay their respects and remember a dear colleague."
The service came shortly after the contents of three detailed notes left by Jacintha before her death was revealed. In one of the letters, addressed to her husband Ben and their children, Jacintha criticised staff at her place of work.Another of the notes directly refers to the 2Day FM prank in which Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian impersonated Prince Charles and the Queen in an attempt to gain information about pregnant Kate Middleton, who was being treated for hyperemesis gravidarum at the facility. In her third and final missive 46-year-old Jacintha outlined details and preparations for her funeral.
The hospital has now set up a private memorial fund to help support the late nurse's relatives, who made a private visit to the facility on Monday before meeting with MP Keith Vaz at Parliament. The politician said Jacintha's husband Benedict and her two teenage children had been left "devastated" by the loss of "a loving mother and a loving wife". He added: "They just want me to say that they are extremely grateful to the public here in the United Kingdom and throughout the world who have sent them messages of condolences and support following the death of Jacintha."