Prunella Scales, CBE (born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth; 22 June 1932) is an English actress best known for her role as Basil Fawlty’s wife Sybil in the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers and her BAFTA award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution (Screen One, BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett.