British police said Sunday they have contacted Australian authorities about a possible investigation into a radio station's prank call to a U.K. hospital about the Duchess of Cambridge.

Meanwhile, the company that owns the station promised to review its broadcast practices.

 

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The prank took a dark twist Friday with the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, a 46-year-old mother of two, three days after she unwittingly accepted the call about the health of Prince William's pregnant wife, Kate. The death has sparked an angry backlash from those who argue the Australian DJs who carried out the hoax should be held responsible.

The board of Southern Cross Austereo had an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss a harsh letter from the hospital that fell for the call. King Edward VII's Hospital, where the former Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness this week, condemned the "truly appalling" hoax and called the consequences "tragic beyond words."

Max Moore-Wilton, the chairman of 2DayFM owner Southern Cross Austereo, said in a letter to the hospital's chairman Sunday that the company will cooperate with any investigation.

He wrote:

We are all saddened by the events of the last few days. They are truly tragic.

It is too early to know the full details leading to this tragic event and we are anxious to review the results of an investigation that may be made available to us or made public. We can assure you that we will be fully cooperative with all investigations.

As we have said in our own statements on the matter, the outcome was unforeseeable and very regrettable.

I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved.

Our Company joins with you, all at King Edwards VII's Hospital and Mrs Saldanha's family and friends in mourning their tragic loss.

U.K.’s Metropolitan Police said Sunday it has contacted Australian authorities in connection with the investigation into Saldanha’s death. Australian police said they would cooperate. A New South Wales Police spokesman told The Telegraph: "As our policing colleagues in London continue to examine events leading up to the death of London nurse Jacintha Saldanha overnight, we will be providing them with whatever assistance is required."

Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com

The radio station callers impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and received confidential details about the former Kate Middleton's medical information. The call was recorded and broadcast.

Police have not yet determined Saldanha's cause of death or whether it was related to the call.

Both DJs involved apologized for the prank before Saldanha's death. Their show has been suspended indefinitely and their Twitter accounts have been taken down after they were bombarded by thousands of abusive comments.

The station's presenters have come under attack from around the world on social media sites and were "extremely distressed," a Southern Cross Austereo spokeswoman said.

Both were keen to speak publicly about the incident, but were in too fragile a condition to do so, the spokeswoman added.

The station has a history of controversy, including airing a segment in which a 14-year-old girl revealed that she had been raped. It also ran a series of "Heartless Hotline" shows in which disadvantage people were offered a prize that could be taken away from them by listeners.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates radio broadcasting, says it received complaints from around the world and is considering whether it should launch an investigation

Separately, Prince William on Sunday pulled out of attending the British Military Tournament, billed as "the largest display of military theatre in the world", citing Kate's illness.

Officials from St. James's Palace have said the duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. The child would be the first for her and William.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.

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Updated at 12:11 p.m. ET on July 26: LONDON - The Olympic flame has been carried past famous British landmarks and tourist spots including Queen Elizabeth II's home at Windsor Castle, the Scottish Highlands and the castle in north-east England where the "Harry Potter" movies were filmed.

The torch is nearing the end of a winding, U.K.-wide 8,000-mile itinerary that culminates in its arrival at the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, on July 27 for the ceremony at which the queen will declare the Games open.

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You can watch NBC video of its progress on the interactive map above. It has already been carried from Land’s End, at the far south-western tip of England, to Wales, Northern Ireland and across to Scotland.

More Olympic coverage from NBC News

It even briefly crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland on its route, which was designed to take it within an hour's journey of 95 percent of Britain's population.

However, some didn’t have to travel anywhere to see it: The queen carried an unopened umbrella as rain-sodden runner Gina Macgregor, 74, took the torch directly to her front door at Windsor Castle, in Berkshire on Day 53 of the relay.

Earlier that day, it was held aloft by Roger Bannister, the first runner to smash the four-minute mile in 1954. Bannister, 83, walked 30 yards along the same track in Oxford where he ran the mile in three minutes, 59.4 seconds on May 6, 1954.

Read more coverage of the Olympic torch relay at ITV News

The torch has seen its fair share of human drama, including a torchbearer in Yorkshire who paused to propose to his girlfriend.

And in emotional scenes last month, Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson -- the most seriously wounded British soldier to survive the war in Afghanistan -- was cheered and applauded by crowds as he bravely carried the flame 300 meters despite his crippling injuries.

American stuntman Nick Macomber carried the torch in a special hands-free carrier while using his free hands to control a jet pack on his back when the relay passed Britain’s National Space Centre in Leicester, central England.

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It was, perhaps fittingly, a typical British summer's day.

As I rode my bike toward Tower Bridge, the rain came tipping down from heavy gray skies and poured over me and the million other people who had crowded through London's streets to line the banks of the River Thames.

But this was no ordinary summer's day. It's been more than 300 years since a huge pageant of ships sailed down the river — 60 years since Elizabeth became our queen.

Queen leads giant Diamond Jubilee flotilla on London's rainy Thames

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A thousand ships, stretching seven miles long, led by dozens of rowing boats pushing their way through the choppy waters. A floating bell tower carrying the royal jubilee bells, their peals answered by church belfries all along the route. Little ships that had courageously evacuated Allied forces from under Nazi bombs at Dunkirk more than 70 years ago. History sailing in front of your eyes.

Boats with orchestras, trumpeters, bagpipes, choirs and drums. Steamships sounding their horns. Artillery firing a royal salute from the Tower of London. And a bedraggled throng of spectators all along both river banks, cheering and singing — Union flags in one hand; umbrellas in the other.

Then the royal barge, fittingly majestic, sailing by under the raised wings of Tower Bridge. I could barely make out the queen on board. But she was there, waving that stiff little royal wave of hers and doing what she always does so well: getting on with it.

I confess I'm not much of a monarchist — the monarchy has always seemed to me to reinforce the sense of privilege and class that still divides this country. But as we both get older (she's 86; I'm not) my views get softer. And I have to hand it to the old lady: After 60 years doing the job, seven days a week, she's surely not a quitter.

In pictures: Britain honors Queen Elizabeth II with Diamond Jubilee

As I squeezed my way past the crowds and the renovated warehouses that once crammed the streets by the river, I passed thousands of families making their way to the water's edge. Kids in buggies who had no idea what was going on but who will no doubt gaze at the photos in years to come and be glad they were there. Grandparents who remember the queen's coronation in 1953, and have grown old with her.

And thousands of visitors who saw the worst of the weather and the best of British history and tradition on the same day.

Secret donors, foreign firms bankroll UK’s Diamond Jubilee celebration

As I got close to the site of our broadcast, I came to a bottleneck of spectators. In the road, and slowing them down, a group of anti-royal protesters carrying placards and making speeches. Police were standing quietly by.

"It's a good day for the queen," shouted one demonstrator, "and a bad day for democracy."

Not quite, I thought. It's been a good day for both. Good that the queen should celebrate 60 years of service to her country. And good for democracy that we live in a country where people are free to disagree.

My favorite moment? Our correspondent who — after outlining the amazing pageant of a thousand ships that sailed down the river with the queen in the pouring rain — was asked what else Her Majesty was going to do today. As if that wasn't enough.

No, it was most surely not an ordinary summer's day.

And you have to hope, don't you, that after 60 years on the throne, the queen is taking the rest of the day off?

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Updated at 3:52 p.m. ET: It was Queen Elizabeth I who launched 1,000 ships down the River Thames in the 16^th century. The same number of boats made their way through London on Sunday — not an armada for battle, but a fanfare of pageantry celebrating the 60-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Black clouds, gusting winds and often torrential rain — the hallmarks of a British summer outdoor event — were unable to darken the magnificence of the display, although several people were treated for hypothermia.

Hundreds of thousands gathered on the banks of the Thames to watch the queen glide past in a barge decorated with flowers, with her closest family at her side, including grandson Prince William and his wife, Kate.

 

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The 1,000-strong flotilla was met by spectators lining 11 of the bridges that cross the river in the city center. Some of those had arrived in a chilly, miserable dawn to make sure they had the perfect view.

Eileen Scott, 67, from Southampton, England, had celebrated the start of Elizabeth's reign as a young girl. "We haven't had a pageant for so long,” she said. "I was here for the coronation. I was 8, and it was a dreadful day like this one."

In pictures: Britain honors Queen Elizabeth II with Diamond Jubilee

Erica Vey, a Royal Air Force veteran and amputee, was in the front row of spectators. "It is typically English to wait for hours on for something; we have the patience,” she said.

In the flotilla were kayaks, rowboats, barges and the Motor Torpedo Boat 102 on which the Allied Forces commander, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspected warships before the 1944 D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France. 

All were decorated with flags and banners, making an extraordinarily colorful spectacle harking back to Tudor times, when river pageants regularly took place for royal festivities.

'Look! I've got the queen!'
In the distance, the dull waters of the Thames were slowly developing color as the formation of 1,000 boats of different shapes, sizes and colors approached Westminster bridge. Music also accompanied mass displays enhancing the atmosphere of the Diamond Jubilee celebration.

Bands on boats played "Pomp and Circumstance"; at one stage, a large vessel played Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair." Then an Indian bagpipe band played Asian renditions of "When the Saints Go Marching In," complemented by Bollywood-style dancing that prompted those watching on the bridge to join in the singing.

After three "hip hip hoorays," a woman started screaming out the national anthem, which spread over the whole bridge. Then the queen approached in the middle of the flotilla aboard the Spirit of Chartwell, where she stood and waved. 

There was a frenzy to snap pictures before the vessel  passed the bridge. Two women excitedly compared photographs: 

"Look! I've got the queen!"

"Wow!  I don't, but I have Will and Kate."

"You should give me your email. I'll email them to you."

Organizers say Sunday's river pageant was the largest of its kind in 350 years — when a similar spectacle was held for King Charles II and his consort, Catherine of Braganza, in 1662. 

Although the queen is still head of state in 16 countries from Australia and Canada to tiny Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean, Britain is now a shadow of its former imperial self. 

A much-needed joyous celebration
Historians and commentators say the pomp and spectacle of British royal occasion gives the country a sense of national pride at a time when the economy is in recession and people face deep austerity measures. 

Secret donors, foreign firms bankroll UK’s Diamond Jubilee celebration

Across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, street parties were being held to mark the occasion. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, dropped in on one in central London before the pageant, joining in a rousing rendition of the national anthem. 

The government hopes the festivities will mark the start of a summer of revelry capped off by the Olympic Games in London, raising the public's spirits and its own poll ratings. 

However, economists have warned that the extra public holidays will hit Britain's already ailing economy, potentially prolonging a recession. 

The celebrations come as polls show overwhelming backing for the monarchy, which has overcome a slump in the 1990s following marital infidelities and the death of the hugely popular Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash. 

Last year's wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton was proof of such enduring appeal, with the ceremonial extravaganza attracting a global audience of up to 2 billion people. 

However, not everyone in London was cheering. The small yet vocal Republican movement planned a protest during the flotilla, saying the jubilee was "a celebration of inherited power and privilege, and those celebrations have no place in a modern democracy." 

Celebrations continue Monday with a pop concert outside Elizabeth's London residence, Buckingham Palace, where Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder will be among the acts. The band Madness is set to take to the roof of the famous landmark to belt out the hit song "Our House." 

Chiara Francavilla and Peter Jeary of NBC News in London and Alastair Jamieson of msnbc.com contributed to this report.

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LONDON -- A lunch of monarchs, hosted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Friday as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, has attracted protests from campaigners angry at the attendance of the king of Bahrain and the king of Swaziland.

The king of Bahrain, whose regime is accused of brutally suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations, was among dozens of sovereign monarchs invited to the banquet at Windsor Castle.

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On Wednesday, protesters gathered outside the recently-refurbished Savoy hotel -- where Swaziland’s King Mswati III is believed to be staying. With more than a dozen wives and an entourage of 30, Africa’s last monarch lives in luxury despite the abject poverty of his subjects. Pictures of the protest were posted on a campaign blog.

Meanwhile, demonstrators were expected to stage protests outside Bahrain's embassy in London later on Friday.

The former Foreign Office minister Denis MacShane accused his old department of placing the Queen in an impossible position. The Labour party lawmaker told The Guardian newspaper: “Many in Britain will regret that the foreign secretary, who approves all invitations sent in the queen's name as head of state, has decided to include a representative of the Bahraini regime which has done such terrible things to its own people since the Arab awakening a year ago."

Read more on this story from Britain's ITV News

However, pro-Bahrain monarchy supporter Lubna Sulaipeekh told ITV News that King Hamad of Bahrain's attendance at the Queen's Jubilee lunch is "appropriate" as Britain and Bahrain have "always had good relations".

Among those not attending is Queen Sofía of Spain, whose government turned down the invitation in a diplomatic spat over Gibraltar, the U.K. overseas territory Spain wants returned.

Graham Smith, from British anti-monarchy campaign group, Republic, told the London Evening Standard: “The queen cannot hide behind protocol and precedent — this is a crisis of her own making. The British people strongly support the struggle for democracy in the Middle East and around the world — this is a catastrophic error of judgment."

Responding to criticism, a Foreign Office spokesman said that maintaining a close relationship with Bahrain allowed it to "have a full and frank discussion on a range of issues".

He told ITV News:  "On human rights we support the reforms already under way in Bahrain and we want to help promote that reform. We have consistently encouraged the Bahraini government to take further urgent steps to implement in full the recommendations of the Independent Commission of Inquiry as the his majesty the king has committed to doing. This includes bringing to account those individuals responsible for human rights abuses."

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LONDON - The bank used by Great Britain's queen, Coutts, has been hit with a record fine by regulators for failing to monitor whether money it was handling was the proceeds of crime.

An investigation by Britain’s Financial Services Authority found the institution neither controlled its relationships with new customers, nor did it monitor existing relationships.

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The Daily Telegraph reported that the bank failed to carry out correct checks on "politically exposed persons," wealthy foreign politicians and their families, often from troubled countries such as Libya.

 

The FSA imposed a fine of $13.8 million (8.75 million pounds), the highest ever issued for such failures.

"The failings at Coutts were serious, systemic and were allowed to persist for almost three years," it said in a statement posted on its web site. "They resulted in an unacceptable risk of Coutts handling the proceeds of crime."

It said the fine would have been even higher but the bank qualified for a 30 per cent discount for early payment.

Coutts is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which is 82-per-cent-owned by the British taxpayer following a 2008 rescue bailout.

The Daily Telegraph said the bank offers free current accounts to customers who invest at least $400,000 (250,000 pounds).

Coutts' parent company said it had not found any evidence that money laundering took place.

In a statement, Rory Tapner, chief executive of the wealth division of Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "Since the FSA first raised its concerns, we have implemented a number of improvements to prevent any recurrence of these failings. Regulatory reforms continue apace.  We remain committed to ensuring that our systems and controls are robust and counter the risk of financial crime in all the markets in which we operate."

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Updated at 4:57 p.m. ET: An avalanche buried and seriously injured the second son of Dutch Queen Beatrix while he skied off marked trails Friday in the westernmost corner of Austria and he was rushed to the intensive care unit of an Innsbruck hospital, officials said.

The Dutch government, which initially said 43-year-old Johan Friso's life was in danger later issued an update saying "his condition is stable but not out of danger."

"Her Majesty the Queen and (Friso's wife) Princess Mabel are with Prince Friso," the Dutch statement said, adding that "doctors treating him will only be able to give a prognosis in a matter of days."

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Stefan Jochum, a spokesman for the Lech ski area where the accident occurred, said Friso's condition was serious but his life was no longer at risk.

Jochum said the accident happened early Friday afternoon as the prince and other skiers were on slopes away from marked Lech ski runs and laden with snow after weeks of record falls.

The Lech municipal office said a regional avalanche warning issued for the day was four on the five-point scale, meaning the danger was high.

"A snow slide came down and the prince was buried as the only member of the group," said Jochum in a telephone interview. A rescue helicopter was on the scene within minutes, and after Friso was located, he was resuscitated on the scene and flown to the hospital, Jochum said.

The Austria Press Agency earlier cited Lech Mayor Ludwig Muxel as saying Friso was buried for about 20 minutes by a snow mass that measured more than 30 yards by 40 yards when it hit him.

Friso was in Lech with other members of the royal family. Friso, the second of Beatrix's three sons, married Dutch commoner Mabel Wisse Smit, in 2004. The pair have two daughters, Countess Luana, 6, and Countess Zaria, 5.

Most recently Friso has worked as financial director at Urenco, the European uranium-enrichment consortium.

The crucial moment in his life as a member of the Dutch nobility came with his 2003 engagement to then-commoner Wisse Smit.

After the pair announced their intention to marry in 2003, Dutch media revealed that Wisse Smit's previous friendships included contacts while she was in college with a well-known figure in the Dutch underworld, a drug dealer who was later slain.

The couple publicly acknowledged having been "naive and incomplete" during her vetting process before joining the royal family. Then-Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende signaled he could not recommend the marriage to parliament for approval.

They married anyway, a decision that meant Friso's removal from the line of succession.

The couple are still part of Beatrix's family and attend important royal functions. Mabel has been granted the title "Princess Mabel" and Friso has an array of noble titles, including "Prince of Oranje-Nassau" — but not "Prince of the Netherlands."

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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