LITTLE ROCK — Two Australian radio disc jockeys apologized Wednesday after impersonating Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles in aprank call and getting a London hospital to tell them all about the former Kate Middleton’s condition. The KingEdward VII hospital in London acknowledged that the Australian radio station made the hoax call to the hospital in the early hours Tuesday - and that the hospital fell for it. The 30-year-old Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant and is being treated at the hospital for severe morning sickness. A woman using the often-mimicked voice of Britain’s queen asked after the duchess’s health - and was told by a nurse that Kate was sleeping and in stable condition. A dog yaps in the background while the alleged queen and prince talk about traveling to the hospital to check in on the patient.The duchess is married to the queen’s grandson Prince William. The Australian station 2DayFM placed the recording of the conversation on its website. Australian radio personalities Mel Greig and Michael Christian later apologized for the hoax. “We were very surprised that our call was put through. We thought we’d be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents,” they said in a joint statement with the station. “We’re very sorry if we’ve caused any issues, and we’re glad to hear that Kate is doing well.”

Julie Andrews says that her four-octave voiceis not coming back. The Oscar and Tony Aw a r d - winning actress said in a recent interview that her injury ina botched operation to remove noncancerous throat nodules in 1997 hasn’t gotten better. It has permanently limited her range and her ability to hold notes. “The operation that I had left me without a voice and without a certain piece of my vocal cords,” said Andrews, who starred in such musicals as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins. The actress says she can still speak “pretty well” and can still hit a few bass notes, “So if you wanted a rendition of ‘Old Man River’ you might” get it, but I’m not singing as much these days.” While Andrews has sung publicly several times since the surgery, including in the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and in a 2010 London concert, she called those performances “speak-singing.”

Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/06/2012