Indeed, it's Packed with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's always hunting season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's earlier episodes apart. The prevailing view was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she is back for another round with a "Christmas Special" (aka a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – remain, but within the context of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan has become the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – 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 an interesting figure, but her aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems content; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, word and glance will be picked apart and criticised, but still appears relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. Because, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and flamboyant – but isn't that exactly what Christmas is all about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be won over, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the intensity of examination she has endured since she met Prince Harry, the love child of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her refusal to change or even moderate her routine, even though it being so persistently, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will certainly come as a comfort: you aren't required to. We don't have the draft anymore, and if there were, it would be improbable to include streaming 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 royal or a everyday person, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their mum does in the holiday season. So you can take heart by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a chocolate.
