Gangnam screenwriters say the brother, the uncle and the betrayal memoir already aired in a chaebol drama and they would like a credit
Screenwriters File a Formal Complaint
SEOUL – The Gangnam Screenwriters Collective has lodged a formal complaint with the British Embassy after members read The London Prat account of Prince William calling Earl Spencer and Harry traitors and recognised it immediately as the plot of episode 14 of a 2019 weekend drama about a shipping conglomerate.
The complaint, delivered by courier in a pastel envelope with a small bow, requests a writing credit, a modest royalty and an assurance that the Palace will not proceed to episode 15 without consultation.
The Chaebol Formula
Collective spokeswoman Ms Park Ji-yeon, 38, who has written 212 episodes of television and killed off 41 fathers, explained that the story follows the standard chaebol inheritance template with suspicious accuracy. You have the serious elder son, heir to the empire, she said, ticking points off on her fingers. You have the rebellious younger son who went abroad and came back with a foreign wife. You have the mysterious maternal uncle who knows secrets about the dead mother. And you have a document that changes everything. In our industry this is called Tuesday.
The real-world version has followed the outline almost beat for beat. US entertainment sites relayed a source claiming the elder brother believes the younger saw the uncle memoir before publication. Earl Spencer told PEOPLE that both nephews were warned in advance. Neither prince has commented publicly. Ms Park said the silence was the only element the British had improved on. In Korea, she said, somebody would have thrown a glass of water by now.
Notes From the Writers Room
Having reviewed the story and its accompanying video, the Collective provided the Palace with standard development notes, the same notes given to every junior writer in Yeouido.
Not Enough Rain
A betrayal scene without rain is unacceptable. The word traitor must be said outdoors, in a downpour, ideally outside a hospital, with one brother holding an umbrella over nobody.
No Piggyback Ride
At some point one brother must carry the other on his back after a minor ankle injury. This is how Korean audiences know the relationship can be repaired. The Collective suggested a ski trip.
Weak Use of Flashbacks
The entire story should be intercut with soft-focus flashbacks of two small boys sharing a lollipop. The Collective acknowledged that this may be difficult to film but noted that child actors are available.
Where Is the Ballad
No drama can succeed without an original soundtrack ballad that plays every time the elder brother stares out of a window. The Collective has already written one, titled Althorp in Autumn, and is prepared to license it at a reasonable rate.
The Video
Members watched the YouTube video accompanying the London Prat story on a laptop during a lunch break, while eating kimbap. Ms Park described it as a strong teaser trailer and asked whether the full series would be available on a streaming platform.
Audience Research
The Korea Institute for Broadcast Emotion conducted a snap poll of 1,200 viewers who had been shown a summary of the royal quarrel. It found that 77 percent believed the uncle would turn out to be the real father of somebody, a twist the institute described as statistically inevitable in the genre. A further 64 percent expected at least one character to develop amnesia, and 12 percent asked whether the younger brother had been hit by a truck, which the institute noted is simply how Korean audiences process any character returning from America.
Projected ratings for a Korean adaptation stood at 17.4 percent nationwide, rising to 22 percent in Busan, where viewers traditionally enjoy stories about brothers who shout at each other on docks.
The Proposed Episode 15
In the spirit of goodwill, the Collective included a free outline of what should happen next. The uncle, in a quiet library, reveals he wrote the entire memoir with a fountain pen given to him by his late sister. The elder brother, soaked from standing in the rain, bursts in and demands the pen. The younger brother arrives on a late flight from Los Angeles, still wearing sunglasses indoors. There is a long silence. A clock ticks. The episode ends on a freeze-frame of the pen, and the ballad begins.
We are not asking for money for this outline, said Ms Park. We are asking for respect. And also some money.
A Rival Complaint From Busan
Within hours of the Seoul filing, a rival group, the Busan Coastal Writers Guild, lodged its own complaint claiming that the true source was not episode 14 at all but a 2016 fishing-village drama in which two brothers fell out over their uncle diary and settled it with a squid-eating contest at the harbour. The Guild noted that its version contained both rain and a piggyback ride and was therefore the superior property. The two writers groups have agreed to resolve the dispute the traditional way, by not speaking for eleven years and then meeting at a wedding.
Review Verdict
Formally, the Collective rated the London Prat story eight out of ten, praising its deadpan delivery and its understanding that the most powerful weapon in any family is a hardback book. Points were deducted for the absence of a secret twin. Ms Park said the Collective reads The London Prat, https://prat.uk/, which has been publishing since 1961, for British source material, and follows the Californian subplot through Bohiney at https://bohiney.com/. If either brother wants a script consultant, she added, the Collective works weekends.
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/prince-william-called-earl-spencer-and-harry-traitors/
