Billy Connolly's wife noticed his hand shaking for a decade before Parkinson's diagnosis

AP Photo Billy Connolly and Pamela Stephenson arrive at the Moet British Independent Film Awards 2012.

Comedy star Billy Connolly may have had Parkinson's disease for around 10 years before it was diagnosed, his wife says.

Pamela Stephenson, 64, said that she had noticed her husband's hand shaking for many years, but assumed that he had just spent too long playing the banjo.

Connolly, 71, has told how he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease on the same day.

Now Stephenson has told BBC Radio 5 live in the UK that the star is "doing incredibly well".

"He's been ill and it was a huge shock for him. For someone who's been healthy his whole life, to suddenly hear that he had two major problems in a week. He had cancer, he's got Parkinson's...."

"But thank God his Parkinson's is so mild he will never really have the kind of symptoms that many people associate with Parkinson's, as far as we know."

"He's probably had it for 10 years, so it's very, very slowly progressing... There are different strains of Parkinson's that I'm learning about."

"I've actually noticed his hand shaking for many, many years... I used to think he was playing the banjo a bit too much... I think it's been there for a long time."

Stephenson also said that it had been a difficult time "for the whole family".

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Billy Connolly's wife noticed his hand shaking for a decade before Parkinson's diagnosis