Prunella Scales and Timothy West celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary with ‘a little do’ – after she thanked him for ‘sticking with me’ amid dementia battle
The son of British acting legends Timothy West, 89, and Prunella Scales, 91, revealed the couple officially celebrated six decades of marriage with a party.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Samuel West, himself an actor, paid tribute to his parents’ loving marriage with a math joke, saying, “How can 60 have so many factors and yet be indivisible?”
The couple officially married on Oct. 26, 1963, and had a “small event” this week to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary, West said.
The 57-year-old actor and theater director told his followers: “The parents had to do a little work this evening to celebrate 60 years of marriage.”
He added: “The brother talked about how the pressure turned these carbon-based life forms into diamond old men; I wondered how 60 of them could have so many factors and yet remain indivisible.”
Prunella Scales, 91, and Timothy West, 89, celebrated 60 years of marriage on Oct. 26; their son Samuel West, 57, told his X followers this week that the couple now have “little things to do” to officially mark the occasion.
He also shared a photo of his parents smiling widely on the couch at the party.
The couple’s marriage became one of the nation’s favorite love stories, with the couple still living in their home in Wandsworth, even after Prunella was diagnosed with vascular dementia more than 20 years ago.
Last month on BBC Breakfast the couple deeply touched viewers when they kissed to celebrate their big anniversary.
Conversation with reporter Colin PatersonThe British actors sat down to discuss their lives together and Prunella, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, leaned in to gently kiss her husband on the cheek as he asked her what life was like with him during the decade.
In this touching moment, Prunella told her husband, “Thank you for being with me for so long.”
West replied, “Well, we did everything right,” before asking her, “It wasn’t that hard of a job, was it?”
Samuel West said his brother spoke at the party, musing “how pressure turned these carbon-based life forms into diamond weirdos.”
She replied: “No! He’s a person I like, I love, and I enjoy being with.”
Those watching described the moment as heartbreaking, with one person joking: “Who’s cutting onions here?”
Also in the interview, TV presenter Paterson revealed that Prunella, who continues to live in her family home with care, gave a more cheerful answer off-screen.
Writing for BBC News, the journalist said: “The interview is over and the cameraman approaches Scales and asks if he can remove the clip microphone from her.
The couple is pictured with one of their two sons in their first decade of marriage; Scales, 91, suffers from vascular dementia but continues to live cautiously at his home in Wandsworth.
In an interview with BBC Breakfast last month at their Wandsworth home, Scales kissed her 60-year-old husband on the cheek.
Scales told journalist Colin Paterson during an interview in November: “He’s a person I like, I love, I love being with,” as they discussed reaching their milestone anniversary.
Their Channel 4 series Grand Canal Tour, which dealt candidly with Prunella’s dementia, won a couple of legions of new fans.
“Oh, okay,” she says, a twinkle in her eye. “Now I can say…”
He added: “And out of her mouth comes a four-letter word that is completely inappropriate for broadcast on BBC Breakfast.”
West recently published a book, Pru and Me: The Surprising Marriage of Prunella Scales and Timothy West, which discusses the couple’s decades of marriage and how they dealt with the progression of Prunella’s disease.
In September, West, who shares a home in Wandsworth with his wife, admitted she misses the “company” of her “best friend” as her battle with dementia continues.
At the end of October, the couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary, which became one of the longest marriages in show business.
In September, West said he missed his wife’s “creative energy.”
BBC presenter Colin Paterson reported that Scales gave a much more sassy answer about the couple’s marriage when the cameras stopped rolling during the November interview. He said the actress uttered “a four-letter word completely unsuitable for broadcast on BBC Breakfast.”
After their careers brought them together, the couple married in 1963.
Coping: Prunella and Timothy were forced to leave their Channel 4 TV show Grand Canal Tour due to her ill health in January 2020.
The actor, who has appeared in EastEnders and Coronation Street, says he can no longer discuss plays or concerts with his wife because she doesn’t remember.
The 89-year-old admitted that he misses her “creative energy”, her brilliant ideas and the parties she would like to go to with people she has recently met.
West says he spends a lot of time reassuring her during periods of confusion: “She’s not very aware of time, so when she joins me, her face lights up as if we’ve been apart for days. The look on her face makes me realize how much I love her.”
He added: “She seems to be doing incredibly well in her life, which is what I try to do, but of course sometimes she has to wonder if she will be allowed to end her days in this house that was so dear to us.”
“Not recognizing me hasn’t been a problem, but I’m sure it will come.”
Timothy, who says he first noticed changes in his wife in 2001, says the condition is now “part of their life” as they adapt to her needs.
Prunella ended her 67-year acting career in early 2020.
West told BBC News that the couple’s relationship was intact, saying: “I know things will change a little bit, but it’s been a long time and we’ve managed to make it work.”
Prunella, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty (pictured) in Fawlty Towers, ended her 67-year acting career at the start of 2020.
Their latest success was “Journeys along the Grand Canal”, in which they saw lift the lid on their battle and let viewers immerse themselves in their daily lives. The last episode of the Channel 4 TV show aired in January 2020.
Talking about a typical day for the couple, Timothy said Pru likes to sleep a lot and often goes to bed after having breakfast together.
However, the actress is still an entertainer and Timothy says she really enjoyed her birthday party over the summer and also attended three proms.
The veteran acting couple are pictured together in When We Were Married in 1986.
The couple, who “fell in love with crossword puzzles and packs of Polo mints”, first addressed Pru’s condition after she began struggling with her lines on stage in the early noughties.
Timothy explained that by 2003, Pru, who had performed on A Woman of No Importance, was relying on “idiot boards” to get through the show.
They weren’t officially diagnosed until 10 years later, and he explained that the progression of her disease “took a very long time.”
Prunella’s Fawlty Towers co-star Andrew Sachs died in 2016, just four years after doctors diagnosed him with dementia.
Prue and Me: The Amazing Wedding of Prunella Scales and Timothy West, published by Puffin, is out now.