William and Kate FaceTime paramedic’s dad in Bangladesh at ambulance station

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have visited an ambulance station in east London – and ended up FaceTiming a paramedic’s father in Bangladesh.

William and Kate chatted with staff at Newham Ambulance Station about their experiences of working during one of the most challenging periods in the London Ambulance Service’s history.

Paramedic Jay Khan asked the couple if it was okay to call her dad Abu in Bangladesh, who has been staying separated from his family since lockdown after his mother fell ill.

Abu replied: “Yes we are all very proud of her.”

The royals also joined a call with Jay’s sister Nasrin and granddad Baharam in the UK.

William told them: “She works very hard and she’s looking forward to seeing you soon.”

Kate said: “Hopefully it won’t be too long before you can all meet up and see each other again.”

William quipped: “We can stay here and do some more family chatting if that works?”

William and Kate joined Jay in the station’s Wellbeing Garden to hear how she has coped with the pressures of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of having to isolate from her family.

They also met paramedic Shani Smith who has been helping to run one of the special tea trucks to serve ambulance staff and medics over the past year, and heard how she has used her mental health training to provide peer support to her colleagues.

Shani, who has worked for the service for over 20 years, said this was the worst time she had ever experienced.

“It’s been like one long major incident,” she said.

William and Kate also heard more about the mental health and wellbeing support provided to staff at the station, including drop-in sessions and the wellbeing spaces.

The duchess was wearing a long camel-coloured double breasted coat with colour-coordinated floral face mask, while the duke was in a navy face mask and matching overcoat.

The visit on Thursday came a week and a half after the monarchy was plunged into crisis by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah interview.

Meghan accused the royal family of racism, but also said the institution failed to help her when she had suicidal thoughts.

Mental health has been at the forefront of William and Kate’s royal duties for a number of years, with the couple launching the Heads Together initiative with Harry.

William, who has faced a rift with his brother, and Kate were pictured against a backdrop of a mural at the station of a red heart mended with plasters beneath a gold crown and above the words “Healing Hurt”.

The Queen has said the issues raised in the Oprah interview will be dealt with privately as a family, but that “some recollections may vary”.

US presenter Gayle King – a friend of Meghan’s – said this week that initial talks between Harry and his father the Prince of Wales and William were “not productive”.

Kensington Palace said, following the visit to the station, that William is committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of the emergency services community, having witnessed first-hand the challenges emergency responders face on a daily basis during his roles as both an air ambulance and RAF search and rescue pilot.

Newham Station forms part of the second busiest station group in the London Ambulance Service (LAS), dealing with more than 76,500 calls over the past year.

The LAS has received £100,000 of funding from NHS Charities Together, of which William and Kate are joint patrons, to run the tea trucks and expand the provision.

The funding was also used to create isolation packs and food for staff across LAS sites.