Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No matter the season, it's perpetually fair game for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when gleefully ripping the program's initial installments to shreds. The prevailing view was that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a holiday episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The standard components audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – remain, but framed of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid together; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan is like the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and supplying 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 an interesting figure, but her presence is familiar and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks happy enough; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She knows her every micro expression, syllable and look will be dissected and judged, but manages to seem carefree and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels lovely. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and extravagant – but is that not just what Yuletide is all about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the life she leads appears to be beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she makes is stunning, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, overcome by festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the degree of examination she has faced from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this genuinely. Her decision to alter or even soften her routine, even though it being so constantly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing 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 reminder that will certainly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. We don't have mandatory conscription in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be doubtful to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are consumed by jealousy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a royal or a data administrator, few children completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent expends in December. So you can console yourself by picturing Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, instead of a sweet treat.
