Indeed, it's Packed with Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's always hunting season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the series' earlier episodes to pieces. The general consensus seemed to be a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she has returned once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a Christmas special). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – persist, but within the context of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – providing 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 aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she looks happy enough; she's not doing any harm.
She knows her every micro expression, word and look will be picked apart and criticised, but still appears relaxed and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, nonsense and over the top – but isn't that just what Yuletide is for? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the example she sets genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with panache. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the wreath she creates is stunning, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is ordinary or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she creases gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the degree of examination she has faced from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her unwillingness to change or even tone down her shtick, even though it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a point that will surely come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. There isn't the draft anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include watching 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. Whether you're a royal or a office worker, hardly any child completely grasps the time and energy their parent puts in 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.
