Yes, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No concerned with the time of year, it's constantly fair game for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the program's earlier episodes to pieces. The common opinion held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the much-discussed pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she has returned once again with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – remain, but within the context of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing 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 aura is known and strangely comforting. And she seems content; she's not doing a bit of damage.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, word and look will be dissected and scrutinized, but still appears relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. Because, you know what?, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and flamboyant – but is that not exactly what Yuletide is for? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the walk she's walking seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with style. Her recipes looks tasty, the wreath she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Not a single thing is mediocre or ugly – including the way she fastens her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the degree of attention she has weathered since she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her refusal to modify or even moderate her persona, even though it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is oddly heartening. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will always know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a thought that will certainly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. We don't have national service in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, hardly any child completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent expends in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a candy.
