Indeed, it's Full of Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the season, it's perpetually fair game for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Critics, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The general consensus held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (aka a yuletide episode). Yet now, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – psychobabble word salads, intense hospitality – remain, but set of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – dispensing unasked-for guidance, 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 company is customary and oddly reassuring. And she seems content; she's causing a bit of damage.
She knows her every micro expression, word and look will be analyzed and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Since, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and extravagant – but isn't that exactly what the holiday season is all about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the example she sets seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she executes with flair. Her recipes looks tasty, the festive decoration she creates is breathtaking, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but despite that, after the intensity of examination she has faced from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would struggle to act this authentically. Her decision to modify or even tone down her persona, regardless of it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her brand, a reminder that will surely come as a relief: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished the draft in this country, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a royal or a everyday person, hardly any child completely grasps the dedication and labor their mum expends in December. So you can console yourself by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.