Admittedly, it's Packed with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No matter the season, it's always hunting season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's earlier episodes to pieces. The common opinion held that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she is back once again with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – persist, but within the context of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems content; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, syllable and look will be analyzed and judged, but nonetheless looks unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Because, you know what?, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Yes, it's all cringily ultra-extra, nonsense and over the top – but is that not exactly what Christmas is all about? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the walk she's walking appears to be shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with panache. Her culinary efforts looks scrumptious, the festive decoration she crafts is breathtaking, her presents are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she wraps wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the degree of scrutiny she has endured from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her refusal to change or even tone down her persona, despite it being so persistently, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will certainly come as a reassurance: you don't have to. We don't have national service these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are gripped with jealousy about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a royal or a office worker, few children fully understands the effort and hard work their mum does in December. So you can take heart by picturing Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a chocolate.
