Prince William and Kate Middleton Call Bingo Numbers to Cheer Up U.K. Care Home's Senior Citizens

Prince William and Kate Middleton called bingo numbers, using traditional British terms like "six and two, tickety-boo" in a morale-boosting video chat with elderly care home residents.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were guests of honor at the Shire Hall Care Home in Cardiff, Wales, where they joined the game via video link yesterday.

The couple brought some light relief to residents gathered in the cinema room before chatting about their experience of the pandemic.

Prince William called "one little duck, number two" while Kate called "six and two, tickety-boo," prompting one resident to call "bingo."

William asked the winner: "How did we do at bingo? Was it okay?"

The senior citizen, named Jo, joked back: "Yeah, very good. It wasn't as good as it should have been."

The light-hearted comment sparked laughs across the care home and from the two royals.

A spokesperson for William and Kate said: "The Duke and Duchess took their turn as guest bingo callers for one of the games, before speaking to some of the residents and their care workers.

"Before the game, The Duke and Duchess heard from members of the care team about the impact of COVID-19 and the challenges that they have faced as a result of the pandemic.

"Their Royal Highnesses also heard how the home has adapted to the current circumstances, including greater use of technology to allow residents to stay in touch with their families and friends."

Britain's Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed this month how 40 percent of U.K. coronavirus deaths are thought to have happened in care homes.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government have come under sustained pressure from the opposition Labour party over the pandemic.

Critics say Coronavirus sufferers should not have been discharged from hospitals into care homes, where they are feared to have infected other residents living there.

The issue has placed coronavirus cases in care homes at the center of the debate about the government's response to the pandemic.

The call by the duke and duchess was just one of several the royal couple made this month after they also dialed into care homes in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and several areas across England.

On one of those calls, the duke said: "If there's hopefully some positivity that comes out of this horrendous time, it is that there's a light shone on all of the wonderful things you all do and on the social care sector.

"And it allows people to acknowledge, respect and appreciate everything that you are doing."

It comes after the prince admitted dinner times with their three kids can be difficult if they do not serve up the food Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis love.

When community chef Charlie Farrally, for the PEEK Project, in Glasgow, Scotland, joked that dinner is the hardest time for parents, William laughed.

He replied: "Yeah. It depends on what's on the table though Charlie, isn't it? And that's the thing.

"If parents put something on that the children love, dinnertime goes very well.

"But if you put something on the table they don't want to do, that's another ball game."