Yes, it's Full of Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's constantly open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the program's initial installments to shreds. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a yuletide episode). Yet now, things have shifted. The usual elements audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, overzealous entertaining – persist, but set of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and delivering 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 quite a personality, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she appears happy enough; she's causing a bit of damage.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, utterance and look will be analyzed and judged, but still appears relaxed and too blessed to be stressed.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. The reason is, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Yes, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent exactly what Christmas is about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the life she leads seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with panache. Her recipes looks tasty, the wreath she crafts is breathtaking, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Nothing is average or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she fastens her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself the entire time. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is organized in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but even so, after the intensity of scrutiny she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, the love child of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this authentically. Her decision to modify or even soften her shtick, even though it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will always know our position with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her message, a thought that will surely come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished national service these days, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are overcome with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a everyday person, hardly any child fully understands the effort and hard work their mother puts in in December. So you can take heart by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a sweet treat.
