Indeed, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's always hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's first and second seasons apart. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she has returned with a new offering with a "Festive Special" (aka a holiday episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – remain, but within the context of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan has become the oddball family member at most festive family gatherings – offering random tips, and contributing 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 quite a personality, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she appears happy enough; she's not doing a bit of damage.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be analyzed and criticised, but nonetheless looks unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels lovely. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and over the top – but doesn't that represent exactly what Yuletide is about? And the words she speaks might be ridiculous, but the example she sets seems authentically shop-bought.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with flair. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she creates is gorgeous, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Not a single thing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a dish in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, filled with festive joy and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is organized in the form of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but even so, after the level of examination she has faced ever since she started dating Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her decision to change or even tone down her routine, even though it being so persistently, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a point that will certainly come as a relief: you don't have to. We don't have the draft anymore, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are overcome with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a royal or a office worker, few children truly appreciates the dedication and labor their mum expends in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning the young royals' faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a chocolate.
