Admittedly, it's Full of Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the series' earlier episodes to shreds. The common opinion seemed to be a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she has returned with a new offering with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a holiday episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The standard components we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – are still present, but within the context of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – providing unasked-for guidance, and supplying the occasional strange exclamation. ("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 quite a personality, but her company is customary and oddly reassuring. And she looks happy enough; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She understands her every micro expression, syllable and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem carefree and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Because, let's face it, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is lovely. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and over the top – but is that not precisely what the holiday season is all about? And the words she speaks might be ridiculous, but the example she sets genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the festive decoration she crafts is stunning, her presents are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Not a single thing is average or visually unappealing – including the way she ties her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the form of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, obviously, but even so, after the degree of examination she has faced from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her unwillingness to change or even soften her persona, regardless of it being so persistently, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will always know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a point that will surely come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. We don't have the draft these days, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are gripped with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, few children completely grasps the effort and hard work their parent puts in in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by envisioning the young royals' faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a candy.
