Indeed, it's Full of Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's constantly hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the series' earlier episodes to pieces. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she is back for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a Christmas special). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – remain, but set of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing random tips, and delivering 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 company is customary and strangely comforting. And she seems pleased; she's causing any harm.
She understands her all subtle gestures, utterance and glance will be analyzed and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks carefree and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Since, let's face it, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is all about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the life she leads appears to be beautifully curated.
Anything she sets her mind to, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks tasty, the festive decoration she crafts is breathtaking, her gifts are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she creases wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is arranged in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has weathered from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would struggle to act this naturally. Her refusal to modify or even tone down her persona, even though it being so constantly, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. We don't have national service these days, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are overcome with jealousy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a data administrator, few children completely grasps the dedication and labor their mum does in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by picturing her children's faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a candy.
