Yes, it's Packed with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the series' earlier episodes apart. The general consensus seemed to be a more egregious regal scandal had seldom occurred than the notorious pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a Christmas special). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – are still present, but within the context of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan is like the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and supplying 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 a bit of a character, but her aura is known and strangely comforting. And she looks content; she's causing a bit of damage.
She knows her all subtle gestures, word and gaze will be dissected and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. Because, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent just what Yuletide is for? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the life she leads seems authentically beautifully curated.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with style. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the wreath she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is average or ugly – even the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, filled with holiday spirit and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but despite that, after the intensity of scrutiny she has faced since she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this naturally. Her decision to modify or even soften her persona, despite it being so persistently, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a thought that will surely come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. There isn't the draft anymore, and were it to return, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are overcome with jealousy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a royal or a everyday person, hardly any child completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent expends in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a candy.
