Yes, it's Packed with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the season, it's always fair game for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the program's first and second seasons apart. The general consensus was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she is back once again with a "Christmas Special" (or a yuletide episode). Yet now, it's different. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – persist, but framed of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at most festive family gatherings – providing unasked-for guidance, and contributing the periodic peculiar declaration. ("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 unexpectedly soothing. And she looks pleased; she's inflicting any harm.
She knows her all subtle gestures, word and glance will be picked apart and judged, but nonetheless looks relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. Since, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is for? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the life she leads appears to be shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with flair. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she makes is gorgeous, her gifts are almost too pretty to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be won over, bursting with holiday spirit and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but nonetheless, after the degree of scrutiny she has endured since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her refusal to modify or even soften her shtick, regardless of it being so persistently, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you are not obligated to. We don't have national service anymore, and if there were, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a everyday person, no kid fully understands the dedication and labor their parent puts in in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by picturing her children's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a chocolate.
