Admittedly, it's Packed with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No matter the season, it's constantly hunting season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when enthusiastically shredding the series' initial installments apart. The common opinion held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back with a new offering with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a Christmas special). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – remain, but framed of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – offering random tips, and contributing the odd random outburst. ("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 a bit of a character, but her aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems pleased; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, utterance and look will be analyzed and judged, but still appears relaxed and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. The reason is, you know what?, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels lovely. Granted, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and extravagant – but isn't that exactly what Yuletide is all about? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the walk she's walking appears to be shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with style. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she makes is stunning, her gifts are practically too exquisite to tear into. Not a single thing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she secures her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she wraps gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with festive joy and left with a deep longing for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the degree of attention she has weathered ever since she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would struggle to act this naturally. Her unwillingness to alter or even moderate her shtick, even though it being so constantly, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a thought that will surely come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished the draft these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are gripped with envy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a data administrator, no kid fully understands the dedication and labor their mother does in December. So you can console yourself by imagining the young royals' faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a candy.
