From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Prunella Scales (born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth) CBE (born 22 June 1932) is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution. Description above from the Wikipedia article Prunella Scales, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​