Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the season, it's perpetually fair game for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the series' earlier episodes to pieces. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback once again with a "Festive Special" (aka a Christmas special). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing random tips, 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 an interesting figure, but her company is customary and oddly reassuring. And she looks happy enough; she's causing a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, word and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. The reason is, you know what?, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but isn't that exactly what Yuletide is about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the example she sets appears to be shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she pulls off with flair. Her cooking looks tasty, the festive decoration she makes is stunning, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Not a single thing is average or ugly – even the way she ties her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where broccoli is arranged in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her decision to modify or even moderate her routine, even though it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, whatever happens. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a reminder that will surely come as a comfort: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished national service in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are gripped with envy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a duchess or a everyday person, no kid completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent expends in December. So you can take heart by picturing the young royals' faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a candy.
