'Proof' royal prank DJs sought permission to air call

Michael Christian, right, and Mel Greig. Photo / Supplied

Australian radio station 2Day FM say they have phone records showing they attempted to gain permission to air the now infamous royal prank call.

A spokesman for 2Day FM, which is owned by Southern Cross Austereo, said the station has always maintained that four follow-up calls were made after presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian phoned London's King Edward VII Hospital on December 4, pretending to be the Queen and Prince of Wales.

However, the hospital has previously said they had no records of the calls being made.

"It has been somewhat contentious for a while, but today 2DAY FM has established through its phone logs and verification by the phone company that those calls were made to the hospital after the first call, which became known as the prank call," the 2Day FM spokesman told AAP yesterday.

Greig and Christian made the prank call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for severe morning sickness in the early hours of the morning on December 4 last year.

The presenters managed to dupe nurse Jacintha Saldanha who transferred their call to another nurse.

This nurse then divulged private information about the duchess.

Ms Saldanha committed suicide soon after the hoax was widely publicised in the British media.

The 2Day FM spokesman told AAP that the follow-up calls were made around 30 minutes to an hour after the prank was recorded in an effort to seek permission to air the stunt.

The hoax was not aired until some hours later, he said.

The comments come as Ms Saldanha's family prepares itself for an inquest into her death to be held in London next week.

The radio station's spokesman could not confirm whether the phone records had already been filed with the coroner, but said there was "no reason why they would have been withheld".