Indeed, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the program's earlier episodes to shreds. The common opinion was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she has returned for another round with a "Festive Special" (aka a Christmas special). Yet now, it's different. The standard components we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – remain, but within the context of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. 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 – providing unasked-for guidance, and contributing 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 oddly reassuring. And she seems happy enough; she's not doing any harm.
She understands her all subtle gestures, word and look will be analyzed and judged, but nonetheless looks unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. Since, you know what?, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and over the top – but is that not exactly what the holiday season is about? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the example she sets appears to be beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she pulls off with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she makes is stunning, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she secures her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't toss a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the likeness of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the level of scrutiny she has weathered ever since she met Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her unwillingness to modify or even tone down her shtick, regardless of it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a thought that will certainly come as a comfort: you aren't required to. We don't have mandatory conscription these days, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are gripped with longing about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a royal or a office worker, hardly any child completely grasps the effort and hard work their mum does in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by imagining her children's faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a chocolate.
