Published 7 days ago • loading... • Updated 6 days ago
Fawlty Towers Star Prunella Scales Left More than £3 Million in Her Will
Probate records show £3,166,554 after liabilities, with most of the estate placed in trust for her two sons and stepdaughter.
Probate documents released Thursday, August 13, revealed late actress Prunella Scales left a net estate valued at £3,166,554. Scales, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty in the BBC sitcom, died in October 2025 at age 93.
Before retiring due to vascular dementia, Scales maintained a career spanning nearly 70 years and was married to actor Timothy West for 61 years until his death in November 2024.
Her estate provides 40% each to sons Samuel and Joseph and 20% to stepdaughter Juliet. Scales bequeathed £10,000 to the Snipe Charitable Trust, £5,000 to the Combined Theatrical Charities Appeals Council, and £1,000 each to the Royal Horticultural Society and the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
An amendment to the 2024 will allowed for share reductions if beneficiaries received significant lifetime gifts, specifically referencing £300,000 given to Samuel for home renovations. Scales also delayed her home's sale to accommodate her grandson, Clement.
In a 1995 Radio Times interview, Scales admitted that TV sitcoms were her "least favourite form of work." Her sons noted she was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died.
She was an extraordinary Hollywood star, adopted two children at the age of 50. Equally extraordinary is her will. What ordinary mortals can learn from her after her death.