Indeed, it's Full of Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the season, it's constantly open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the series' initial installments to pieces. The general consensus was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (aka a yuletide episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan is like the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and delivering the occasional strange exclamation. ("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 oddly reassuring. And she appears pleased; she's not doing any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, word and gaze will be dissected and scrutinized, but manages to seem relaxed and too blessed to be stressed.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. The reason is, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and over the top – but is that not just what Yuletide is for? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the life she leads appears to be shop-bought.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she creases gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, overcome by festive joy and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the degree of examination she has endured ever since she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her unwillingness to alter or even soften her routine, regardless of it being so persistently, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a reminder that will surely come as a reassurance: you don't have to. There isn't the draft in this country, 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 consumed by jealousy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their parent expends in December. So you can take heart by imagining her children's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a sweet treat.
