Prunella Scales and Timothy West's very romantic tradition they've upheld for 60 years

Prunella Scales and Timothy West have been married for over six decades and during that time, the two actors have kept up a sweet tradition they began when they first met on the set of the period TV drama, She Died Young, back in 1961 – and it's so romantic!

Opening up about their first meeting during an appearance on Loose Women last year, Timothy exPrunella Scalesplained that when he and Prunella weren't filming scenes for the show, they would spend their time off playing crosswords and writing letters to each other.

"Pru and I had certain amounts of time off," the star began. "We spent a lot of time doing crosswords and writing letters to each other. This is something that has gone on all our lives."

The 90-year-old continued: "We love writing letters about something that the other person might have missed or not quite understood. We would make each other laugh and make each other find out about things."

Prunella and Timothy tied the knot at Chelsea Register Office in 1963 before going on to welcome two sons: Samuel and Joseph. Timothy is also a dad to his daughter Juliet from his first marriage.

Prunella, who is best known for her role in the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, previously revealed that her husband was "brilliant" when she was in labour with Samuel, their eldest son, and made her laugh "so much" that she had to have stitches.

Recalling the moment Samuel was born, Prunella told The Guardian: "Tim said, 'Very good, no retakes', and I laughed so much that I had to have stitches."

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Prunella and Timothy's children

The couple's eldest son, Samuel, followed in his parents' footsteps as an actor. The 58-year-old is a familiar face on our screens, having appeared in Slow Horses, The Crown, and Mr Selfridge. He currently stars in Channel 5's hit period drama, All Creatures Great and Small.

Away from the cameras, Samuel is in a long-term relationship with award-winning playwright and screenwriter Laura Wade, who worked as a writer and executive producer on Disney+'s Rivals. The couple share two daughters, born in 2014 and 2017.

Meanwhile, Joe is now a teacher, having always wanted to pursue a career in the profession. After achieving a first-class degree in French at Manchester University, he married a French lector and settled down in France. The couple share three children. Prunella previously said of the pair: "I'm very proud and happy that they are teachers as we need good teachers. They have three children who speak very good English but it's a little bit posh, actor's English – I think they'll have to modify it if they work over here. I love being a grandmother."

Timothy is also a father to Juliet, whom he shares with actress Jacqueline Boyer. Juliet is a hairdresser and worked on her step-mum's hair for the Channel 4 documentary, Great Canal Journeys, which saw Prunella and Timothy embark on canal journeys across the UK.

Samuel told The Times last year: "Juliet was amazing on the series. There are clips of her talking and she’s by far the most natural and funny of all of them.

"She spent a wonderful time on it and saw a lot of my dad. And her daughter and her daughter's partner and their children until very recently lived in the flat below my parents' house," he added.