Yes, it's Full of Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the season, it's constantly open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when gleefully ripping the program's initial installments to shreds. The common opinion seemed to be a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she is back once again with a "Festive Special" (also known as a holiday episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – persist, but set of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – offering unasked-for guidance, and delivering 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 oddly reassuring. And she looks pleased; she's not doing any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, utterance and glance will be dissected and criticised, but still appears relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the initial instance in history where that old chestnut – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Because, let's face it, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and extravagant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the walk she's walking seems authentically beautifully curated.
Anything she attempts, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she creates is breathtaking, her presents are nearly too beautiful to open. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal 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 cynical observer not be convinced, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the intensity of scrutiny she has endured ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this genuinely. Her unwillingness to alter or even tone down her routine, despite it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is something 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 remaining skeptical of her message, a point that will certainly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. We don't have mandatory conscription anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are consumed by longing about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a royal or a office worker, no kid fully understands the effort and hard work their parent puts in in the holiday season. So you can take heart by picturing her children's faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a candy.
