Fawlty Towers legend Punella Scales leaves eyewatering sum in will as amount revealed following death at 93
Prunella Scales, beloved for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the classic BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, has left behind a fortune exceeding £3 million, newly released probate documents reveal.
The actress, who had been living with dementia, died peacefully at her London home in October 2025 at the age of 93.
Probate was officially granted on August 11, nearly ten months after her passing.
According to the filings, Ms Scales’ gross estate was valued at £3,376,585. After deductions, the net figure stood at £3,166,554.
Prunella Scales was married to fellow actor Timothy West until his own death in 2024
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GETTYHer two sons, Samuel and Joseph, are each set to inherit 40 per cwnt of the estate, amounting to roughly £1.27 million apiece. Stepdaughter Juliet will receive the remaining 20 per cent.
Beyond her family, Ms Scales directed funds towards her goddaughters and a selection of charitable organisations close to her heart.
The Snipe Charitable Trust, a body dedicated to supporting arts education for young people and providing grants to other charities, is to benefit from a £10,000 bequest.
A further £5,000 was earmarked for The Combined Theatrical Charities Appeals Council for The King George V Fund For Actors.
Prunella Scales (left) with fellow Fawlty Towers legends John Cleese (second from left), Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs | PA
Both The Royal Horticultural Society and The Campaign To Protect Rural England were each left £1,000 in the will.
Ms Scales earned enduring fame through her portrayal of the long-suffering Sybil, wife to John Cleese’s hapless hotelier Basil Fawlty.
The programme consisted of a mere 12 episodes, broadcast between 1975 and 1979, yet it is widely regarded as among the greatest comedies ever produced.
Her talents extended far beyond Torquay’s most dysfunctional hotel, however.
Prunella Scales in 1982
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She took on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett’s A Question Of Attribution, a performance that secured her a Bafta nomination.
Earlier in her career, in 1973, she appeared alongside Ronnie Barker in the BBC’s Seven Of One, a series of standalone comedy pilots that would go on to spawn some of the corporation’s most successful sitcoms.
Ms Scales shared her life with fellow actor Timothy West for more than six decades, their marriage spanning 61 years until his death in November 2024.
The couple’s son Samuel West is also an actor
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The couple became familiar faces on Channel 4 through Great Canal Journeys, filming ten series of the programme as they navigated waterways across Britain and further afield.
Throughout the show, they spoke openly about Ms Scales’ vascular dementia diagnosis, with their final voyage airing in June 2019.
In a poignant detail revealed by her sons when they announced her death last year, Ms Scales had been watching Fawlty Towers just the day before she passed away, a fitting final connection to the role that made her a household name across generations.
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