Heir, spare or uncle: the royal traitor story could be told from any of three perspectives, and the choice would change everything about the script
Three Protagonists, One Story
One of the first decisions a screenwriter makes is whose story they are telling. That choice shapes structure, sympathy, tone and theme. The London Prat piece on Prince William reportedly calling Earl Spencer and Harry traitors involves three central figures, each of whom could plausibly carry a script. Considering each in turn illustrates how point of view transforms material.
The Heir as Protagonist
Told from the elder brother perspective, the story becomes one of responsibility and perceived betrayal. He carries the weight of an inherited role. According to an unnamed source, he believes his brother saw their uncle book first. A script centred on him might explore loneliness, duty and the fear of losing control of a family narrative. The risk is that audiences may find him unsympathetic if his reaction seems disproportionate. The writer task would be to make his hurt understandable, even if his words, such as the reported traitor, are harsh.
The Spare as Protagonist
Told from the younger brother perspective, the story becomes one of freedom and belonging. He has left the institution, built a life elsewhere and maintained a relationship with his mother family. Reports of his July visit to his uncle could be framed as an act of love and connection rather than conspiracy. A script centred on him might explore identity, exile and the cost of choosing one own path. The risk is sentimentality: presenting him as purely wronged would flatten the drama.
The Uncle as Protagonist
Told from the uncle perspective, the story becomes one of memory and grief. He has lost a sister and written about her. He says he told everyone before publishing. A script centred on him might explore the responsibilities of a keeper of family memory, the tension between honesty and loyalty, and what it feels like to be blamed for telling the truth as he sees it. This perspective is perhaps the least expected, and potentially the most original.
The Rashomon Option
Akira Kurosawa 1950 film Rashomon famously told the same event from multiple conflicting perspectives, leaving audiences to weigh competing truths. The structure has been borrowed countless times since. Applied to a three-sided family conflict, a Rashomon approach would allow each character to tell their version, revealing how the same events look different from each position. This structure suits material built on disputed accounts, such as the conflicting reports in the royal story.
The risk of the multiple-perspective approach is fragmentation. Audiences need something to hold onto, whether a central question, a framing device or a character who connects the perspectives. Writers using this approach often choose a single event, such as the day the book was published, and return to it repeatedly from different angles.
A Comic Perspective
The London Prat takes the view of an amused outsider, as does its YouTube video. Comedy often adopts this external perspective, observing all the characters at once.
Choosing Deliberately
Writers sometimes drift into a point of view without deciding. The result can be scripts that feel unfocused, with sympathy shifting unpredictably. Choosing deliberately, and understanding what each perspective offers and costs, produces stronger work. Useful questions include: whose change is the story really about? Which character has the most to lose? Whose perspective will surprise the audience? And which point of view allows the theme to emerge most clearly?
The Ethical Dimension
When real people are involved, point of view also carries ethical weight. Choosing one perspective inevitably makes the others secondary, and may present them less sympathetically. Writers of real-people drama should be aware that their choice of protagonist is also a choice about whose version of events receives the most weight.
Point of View and Genre
Point of view also shapes genre. Told from the heir perspective, the story might become a political drama about institutional duty. From the spare perspective, it might become a character study about identity and exile, perhaps with elements of romance. From the uncle perspective, it might become a quieter family drama about memory and loss. From the press perspective, it might become a satire of the media. From the outsider perspective, it might become comedy. The same events, filtered through different eyes, can belong to entirely different genres. Writers who understand this can use point of view as a tool to reach the audience they want, and can avoid the common mistake of choosing a perspective that pulls the script toward a genre they did not intend.
It is worth writing a single key scene from each possible perspective before committing. The exercise often reveals which version feels most alive, and which character the writer genuinely cares about most. That instinct is usually a better guide than any abstract principle.
Whichever perspective is chosen, it should be held consistently enough that the audience trusts the story.
Conclusion
Heir, spare or uncle: each perspective would produce a completely different film. The London Prat, publishing since 1961 at https://prat.uk/, has chosen the outsider comic view. Bohiney, at https://bohiney.com/, takes similar vantage points on American stories. For screenwriters, the lesson is fundamental: before writing a single scene, decide whose story it is, and why.
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/prince-william-called-earl-spencer-and-harry-traitors/