Despite being tested by dementia, the love between actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales is as strong as ever. They invited us into their home to talk about his book and their enduring marriage
Eyes wide with curiosity, Prunella Scales appears in the hallway of her London home and asks: “Who are you?” With the help of the carer who has just let me in, I explain I’m there to interview her husband, Tim, about his new book, Pru &Me. And, while I’m not sure Prunella has understood, she nevertheless offers the warmest of welcomes.
“Can I take your coat? Can I get you a drink? Would you like to sit in here?” she asks, leading me into the front room of their Victorian house on Wandsworth Common.The couple, who married in 1963, have lived here for 55 years. “Are you happy sitting in here?” Pru asks, and I reassure her that I am. Very much so. Who wouldn’t be happy in such a beautiful family sitting room, surrounded by classic books and music?
It soon transpires that Tim (89) is having his toenails attended to upstairs, but when he emerges, Pru is ushered next door. She has been living with vascular dementia for the past 20 of her 91 years, and I can see why Tim writes about her incredible kindness in his new book. She clearly has an enormous capacity for empathy, which is borne out in her repeated questioning. “Yes, well, there’s a bit too much of that,” he says with a gentle smile.
After all, he should know. It was in 2001, when Prunella was in her early 70s, that Tim first noticed a change. His wife had played everyone from Sybil Fawlty to Queen Elizabeth II and, blessed with an excellent memory, always knew entire scripts.
Yet appearing in a play in Dulwich, Tim sensed she was having to search for her lines. It was then that Alzheimer’s first crossed his mind, but life carried on pretty much as normal. By 2003, though, she was struggling so much she needed stage prompts. At first, the GP put Pru’s symptoms down to old age.
“Old age? But I’m only 74!” was her response. Sadly, she continued to decline and, in 2013, was diagnosed with vascular dementia. It must have been devastating news, but the couple were typically stoic.
Their solution was to continue as normally as possible, which they did in part through their Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys. The pair make a wonderful double act and, while Pru’s ailing health eventually led them to quit the show in 2020, Tim’s book is a celebration of their shared adventures and “splendid love”. It spans from the moment he met his beloved ‘Pruey’ when they bonded over The Times crossword and Polo mints, through to their 1963 marriage, parenthood and grandparenthood.
