Indeed, it's Packed with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's always open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the program's first and second seasons to pieces. The general consensus was that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the notorious pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she is back for another round with a "Christmas Special" (or a Christmas special). But this time, things have shifted. The standard components we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – are still present, but framed of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and supplying 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 an interesting figure, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks content; she's not doing any harm.
She knows her every micro expression, syllable and look will be analyzed and judged, but still appears unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. Because, you know what?, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Granted, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and extravagant – but doesn't that represent exactly what the holiday season is all about? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with flair. Her recipes looks delicious, the festive decoration she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – including the way she secures her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she wraps gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where broccoli is arranged in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the level of attention she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this genuinely. Her refusal to change or even tone down her routine, despite it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, come what may. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a thought that will surely come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription anymore, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are gripped with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a royal or a everyday person, no kid completely grasps the time and energy their mum expends in the holiday season. So you can take heart by picturing the young royals' faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a candy.
