Admittedly, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. But I Do Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always hunting season for criticism 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 lifestyle show's initial installments to shreds. The general consensus held that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a holiday episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – persist, but set of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan is like the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – offering unasked-for guidance, 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 aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she seems happy enough; she's causing any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, syllable and glance will be dissected and scrutinized, but still appears unburdened and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Since, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels lovely. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what the holiday season is about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the example she sets seems authentically shop-bought.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with style. Her cooking looks scrumptious, the wreath she makes is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she fastens her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she folds gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has weathered since she became involved with Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her refusal to change or even moderate her shtick, regardless of it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her brand, a point that will certainly come as a reassurance: you don't have to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription these days, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are overcome with longing about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a royal or a office worker, few children completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent does in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a sweet treat.
