Indeed, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the season, it's always fair game for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's earlier episodes to pieces. The general consensus was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Festive Special" (also known as a Christmas special). Yet now, things have shifted. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – remain, but set of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – dispensing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and delivering 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 presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she appears happy enough; she's causing a bit of damage.
She knows her every micro expression, word and look will be picked apart and judged, but manages to seem unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. The reason is, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and over the top – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is all about? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Anything she attempts, she executes with panache. Her cooking looks scrumptious, the festive decoration she crafts is stunning, her gifts are almost too pretty to tear into. Not a single thing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she secures her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she folds wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the degree of examination she has endured ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her decision to modify or even moderate her routine, even though it being so persistently, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you don't have to. We don't have national service these days, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are consumed by jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a royal or a office worker, no kid fully understands the effort and hard work their mother puts in in December. So you can take heart by imagining the young royals' faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a chocolate.
