Wills goes to bingo
House about that ... Prince at the bar, left, and with elderly fan
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By JOHN KAY
OCTOBER 04, 2006
PRINCE William has spent a night at a BINGO club.
He played alongside stunned regulars after registering in the name William Harry at the Mecca hall near his Sandhurst military academy.
Wills, 24, paid £5 for a book of five tickets after becoming a club member — but failed to land any of the £20 prizes.
One regular joked: “If he had won, we were wondering if he would have shouted ‘palace’ instead of ‘house’!”
Eyes down ... Prince William
Army officer cadet Wills spent nearly an hour playing bingo at the grey concrete club in Reading, Berkshire, as he and ten pals let off steam after a five-hour terrorism lecture.
At first he tried to hide under a baseball cap and denied being the heir to the throne.
But eventually he came clean and chatted to elderly regulars in the foyer.
A fellow player said: “Initially he told someone he was a lookalike but his mates all started laughing so he had to own up.
“He was very friendly, talking and joking with people. When someone asked him to sign the back of their bingo card he borrowed a pen from the girl behind the bar and signed a couple of cards.”
Ordinary .... Mecca bingo hall where Wills and pals played
The bingo night out was originally suggested as a joke by one of William’s pals after lectures finished at 6pm last Friday.
But according to a Sandhurst source, the Prince amazed fellow cadets by replying: “That’s perfect! Bingo it is.”
The source said: “None of the cadets thought William was seriously agreeing and they bet him he’d bottle out before they got there.
“But William went through with it. They thought it was hilarious and had a great time.”
Wills left at around 9.30pm and was later seen knocking back booze in three bars in the town, dubbed Britain’s “chav” capital.
Onlookers told how the high-spirited Prince chatted to other revellers and even showed his credit card to one girl when she asked him to prove his identity.
Last night Mecca Bingo — which has five million members playing at 118 UK clubs — declined to discuss its new Royal addition.
A spokesman said: “Due to reasons of confidentiality, we cannot comment on individual members.
However, we can tell you that bingo appeals to people from every walk of life.”
A Clarence House spokesman confirmed: “Prince William made a private visit to the bingo. He was on a fun night out with a small group of fellow Sandhurst cadets at the time.”
j.kay@the-sun.co.uk
thesun.co.uk
House about that ... Prince at the bar, left, and with elderly fan
RELATED STORIES
OCTOBER 04, 2006
PRINCE William has spent a night at a BINGO club.
He played alongside stunned regulars after registering in the name William Harry at the Mecca hall near his Sandhurst military academy.
Wills, 24, paid £5 for a book of five tickets after becoming a club member — but failed to land any of the £20 prizes.
One regular joked: “If he had won, we were wondering if he would have shouted ‘palace’ instead of ‘house’!”
Eyes down ... Prince William
Army officer cadet Wills spent nearly an hour playing bingo at the grey concrete club in Reading, Berkshire, as he and ten pals let off steam after a five-hour terrorism lecture.
At first he tried to hide under a baseball cap and denied being the heir to the throne.
But eventually he came clean and chatted to elderly regulars in the foyer.
A fellow player said: “Initially he told someone he was a lookalike but his mates all started laughing so he had to own up.
“He was very friendly, talking and joking with people. When someone asked him to sign the back of their bingo card he borrowed a pen from the girl behind the bar and signed a couple of cards.”
The bingo night out was originally suggested as a joke by one of William’s pals after lectures finished at 6pm last Friday.
But according to a Sandhurst source, the Prince amazed fellow cadets by replying: “That’s perfect! Bingo it is.”
The source said: “None of the cadets thought William was seriously agreeing and they bet him he’d bottle out before they got there.
“But William went through with it. They thought it was hilarious and had a great time.”
Wills left at around 9.30pm and was later seen knocking back booze in three bars in the town, dubbed Britain’s “chav” capital.
Onlookers told how the high-spirited Prince chatted to other revellers and even showed his credit card to one girl when she asked him to prove his identity.
Last night Mecca Bingo — which has five million members playing at 118 UK clubs — declined to discuss its new Royal addition.
A spokesman said: “Due to reasons of confidentiality, we cannot comment on individual members.
However, we can tell you that bingo appeals to people from every walk of life.”
A Clarence House spokesman confirmed: “Prince William made a private visit to the bingo. He was on a fun night out with a small group of fellow Sandhurst cadets at the time.”
j.kay@the-sun.co.uk
thesun.co.uk
