Yes, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. But I Do Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No concerned with the season, it's always fair game for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the series' first and second seasons apart. The common opinion held that a more egregious regal scandal had seldom occurred than the much-discussed pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned with a new offering with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a Christmas special). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The standard components audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – are still present, but framed of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing unasked-for guidance, 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 unexpectedly soothing. And she seems pleased; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, syllable and look will be picked apart and criticised, but nonetheless looks carefree and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. The reason is, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and flamboyant – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the life she leads seems authentically shop-bought.
Anything she sets her mind to, she executes with panache. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she makes is gorgeous, her gifts are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Not a single thing is average or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the likeness of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has faced from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her refusal to modify or even moderate her persona, regardless of it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will always know our position with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a reminder that will surely come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. There isn't mandatory conscription anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are gripped with envy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a royal or a office worker, no kid completely grasps the effort and hard work their mum expends in December. So you can take heart by imagining her children's faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a chocolate.
