Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the series' initial installments apart. The common opinion was that a more egregious regal scandal had seldom occurred than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a Christmas special). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – persist, but framed of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan has become the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – offering unasked-for guidance, and supplying the periodic peculiar declaration. ("I love spinach!" … "A tradition has to have a beginning." … "A tree is part of my memory and love of the holiday season.") She's an interesting figure, but her aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks pleased; she's inflicting any harm.
She understands her every micro expression, word and gaze will be picked apart and judged, but manages to seem unburdened and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – could actually be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is lovely. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and over the top – but is that not just what the holiday season is for? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the example she sets appears to be impeccably styled.
Anything she sets her mind to, she accomplishes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the festive decoration she crafts is gorgeous, her presents are almost too pretty to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't toss a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be won over, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where greens is organized in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but even so, after the degree of scrutiny she has faced since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this naturally. Her unwillingness to change or even soften her shtick, despite it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, come what may. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a point that will certainly come as a comfort: you aren't required to. There isn't national service these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are consumed by longing about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a royal or a office worker, no kid truly appreciates the effort and hard work their mother does in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a candy.
