Prince William takes a gamble on bingo night out

LONDON, Oct 4: Bingo is more usually associated with pensioners than royalty, but Britain's Prince William decided to try his luck at the game with a group of friends last week, the Sun newspaper reported today.

A royal spokeswoman confirmed that the second-in-line to the British throne visited a bingo club in Reading, near Sandhurst military academy where he is an officer cadet.

''He was there,'' she said told Reuters, declining to give further details.

The tabloid newspaper splashed the prince's bingo night out on its front page.

William, 24, visited the club last Friday, where he signed up to become a member before paying 5 pounds () for a book of five tickets, it said.

He spent nearly an hour playing the game with 10 friends from Sandhurst but failed to win any of the 20-pound prizes.

The Sun quoted one regular as saying: ''If he had won, we were wondering if he would have shouted 'palace' instead of 'house'.''

Reuters