Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to pieces. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Festive Special" (or a Christmas special). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – are still present, but within the context of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
Now, Meghan has become the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – offering unasked-for guidance, and delivering the occasional strange exclamation. ("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 unexpectedly soothing. And she looks happy enough; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She understands her every micro expression, syllable and look will be picked apart and scrutinized, but still appears unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. Since, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent just what Christmas is all about? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the life she leads genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her cooking looks tasty, the festive decoration she crafts is stunning, her presents are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Nothing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't toss a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she creases gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be won over, bursting with festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of scrutiny she has weathered ever since she started dating Prince Harry, the love child of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even soften her routine, even though it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a point that will certainly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. We don't have the draft anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are consumed by longing about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a duchess or a everyday person, no kid truly appreciates the time and energy their parent expends in December. So you can console yourself by envisioning the young royals' faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a sweet treat.
