Prunella Scales and Timothy West celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary by ‘doing a little’ – after she thanked him for ‘sticking with me’ amid battle against dementia
The son of British acting legends Timothy West, 89, and Prunella Scales, 91, has revealed the couple have officially celebrated 60 years of marriage with a party.
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The couple officially tied the knot on Oct. 26, 1963, and had a “little activity” this week to mark their diamond wedding anniversary, West said.
The 57-year-old actor and theater director told his followers: “Parents had something to do tonight to celebrate 60 years of marriage.”
He added, “Brother talked about how pressure had turned these carbon-based life forms into diamond geezers; I wondered how their 60 could have so many factors and still be indivisible.’
Prunella Scales, 91, and Timothy West, 89, were married 60 years on Oct. 26; their son Samuel West, 57, told his X followers this week that the couple had now had ‘a bit to do’ to officially celebrate the occasion
He also shared a photo of his parents smiling broadly on the couch at the party.
The couple’s marriage has become one of the nation’s favorite love stories, with the couple still living in their Wandsworth home even after Prunella’s diagnosis with vascular dementia more than twenty years ago.
Last month on BBC Breakfast, the couple left viewers deeply moved when they shared a kiss to celebrate their big anniversary.
In conversation with reporter Colin Patersonthe British actors sat down to discuss their lives together, with Prunella, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, leaning in to kiss her husband tenderly on the cheek when he asked her how life was with him been over the years. decades.
In that moving moment, Prunella said to her husband, “Thank you for staying with me so long.”
West replied, “Well, we did a good job,” before asking her, “It hasn’t really been hard work, has it?”
Samuel West revealed that his brother had spoken at the party and wondered ‘how the pressure had turned these carbon-based life forms into diamond geezers’
She replied, ‘No! He is a person I love, love, and enjoy being around.”
Onlookers described the moment as heartbreaking, with one person joking: ‘Who’s chopping onions here?’.
In the interview, broadcaster Paterson also revealed that Prunella, who continues to live in her family home with care, had a more hilarious response off camera.
In an article for BBC News, the journalist said: ‘Interview over, the cameraman goes to Scales and asks if he can take the clip microphone from her.
The couple pictured with one of their two sons in the first decade of their marriage; Scales, 91, has vascular dementia but has continued to live in their Wandsworth home with care
In a BBC Breakfast interview at their Wandsworth home last month, Scales offered a kiss on the cheek to her husband of 60 years.
Scales told journalist Colin Paterson during the November interview: “He’s a person that I like, that I love, that I enjoy being with,” as they discussed how to reach their milestone.
Their Great Canal Journeys series for Channel 4 – which was candid about Prunella’s dementia – won the pair legions of new fans
“Oh beautiful,” she says, a twinkle in her eye. “Now I can say…”
He added: ‘And out of her mouth comes a four-letter word completely unsuitable for broadcast on BBC Breakfast.’
West recently published a book, Pru and Me: The Amazing Marriage of Prunella Scales and Timothy West, which discussed the couple’s decades of marriage and how they have dealt with the progression of Prunella’s disease.
In September, West, who shares a home in Wandsworth with his wife, admitted he misses the “company” of his “best friend” as her dementia battle continues.
At the end of October, the couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary, making it one of the longest marriages in show business
West spoke out in September about missing his wife’s “creative energy.”
BBC broadcaster Colin Paterson revealed Scales had a much bolder response about the couple’s marriage when the cameras stopped rolling during the interview in November. He said the actress ‘shared a four-letter word that was completely unsuitable for broadcast on BBC Breakfast.’
After their respective careers brought them together, the couple married in 1963
Coping: Prunella and Timothy were forced to leave their Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys, in January 2020 due to her ill health
The actor, who 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 longs for her “creative energy” and the brilliant ideas she had and parties she would like to go to with people she had recently met.
West says he spends a lot of time reassuring her during periods of confusion: “She doesn’t have much sense of time, so when she comes to 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 coping incredibly well, as I try, but she must sometimes wonder whether she can end her days in this home that has been so dear to us.
“It’s no problem not to recognize me, but that will happen, I’m sure.”
Timothy, who says he first noticed changes in his wife in 2001, says the condition has now become “part of their lives” 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 had endured, saying: “I know things will change a bit, but it’s been a long time and we’ve managed to get it right.”
Prunella, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty (pictured) in Fawlty Towers, ended her 67-year acting career in early 2020
Their most recent success was Great Canal Journeys, in which they appeared lift the lid on their struggles and introduce viewers to their daily lives. The final series of the Channel 4 TV show aired in January 2020.
Giving insight into a typical day for the couple, Timothy revealed that Pru likes to sleep a lot and often goes to bed for a quick nap after having breakfast together.
However, the actress is still an entertainer in every sense and Timothy says she enjoyed a party for her birthday in the summer and attended three proms.
The veteran acting couple pictured together in When We Were Married in 1986
The couple, who “fell in love with crosswords and packs of polo coins”, first spoke about Pru’s condition after she began struggling with her lines on stage in the early 1990s.
Timothy explained that Pru, who performed in A Woman of No Importance, relied on “idiot boards” in 2003 to get her through the show.
They did not receive a formal diagnosis until ten 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.
Pru and Me: The Amazing Marriage of Prunella Scales and Timothy West, published by Puffin, is out now.