Indeed, it's Packed with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly fair game for scrutiny 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 first and second seasons apart. The common opinion held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (aka a Christmas special). However on this occasion, it's different. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – are still present, but set of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan is like the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – providing random tips, 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she looks pleased; she's not doing any harm.
She understands her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be analyzed and criticised, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and extravagant – but doesn't that represent exactly what Yuletide is all about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the example she sets seems authentically beautifully curated.
Anything she attempts, she pulls off with panache. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the festive decoration she makes is breathtaking, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Not a single thing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the intensity of examination she has weathered from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her refusal to modify or even soften her persona, regardless of it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will always know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. There isn't mandatory conscription anymore, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are overcome with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a royal or a data administrator, no kid fully understands the time and energy their parent does in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by imagining Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a candy.
