Admittedly, it's Packed with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's perpetually hunting season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the program's first and second seasons to shreds. The prevailing view held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). However on this occasion, it's different. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but set of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come together; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan is like the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and supplying 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 company is customary and strangely comforting. And she seems pleased; she's not doing a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, utterance and look will be picked apart and judged, but still appears carefree and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – could actually be true. The reason is, you know what?, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, nonsense and extravagant – but isn't that precisely what Christmas is about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the example she sets seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks delicious, the wreath she makes is stunning, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Not a single thing is average or visually unappealing – including the way she secures her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't toss a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, bursting with festive joy and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is organized in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of examination she has endured since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her unwillingness to modify or even moderate her routine, regardless of it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, come what may. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her message, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished national service anymore, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are overcome with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a royal or a data administrator, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their mother does in December. So you can console yourself by picturing Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a chocolate.
