Indeed, it's Packed with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's always hunting season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the program's first and second seasons apart. The common opinion seemed to be a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The standard components audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – persist, but set of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan has become the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering random tips, and contributing 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks pleased; she's causing a bit of damage.
She understands her every micro expression, word and glance will be dissected and scrutinized, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent precisely what the holiday season is about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with style. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the wreath she crafts is breathtaking, her gifts are almost too pretty to tear into. Not a single thing is mediocre or ugly – even the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she folds gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, filled with holiday spirit and left with a deep longing for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the degree of scrutiny she has faced since she started dating Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her decision to change or even tone down her shtick, regardless of it being so persistently, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a point that will certainly come as a comfort: you don't have to. We don't have the draft in this country, and were it to return, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are overcome with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a everyday person, few children truly appreciates the time and energy their mother puts in in the holiday season. So you can take heart by imagining 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.
