Admittedly, it's Packed with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No concerned with the time of year, it's perpetually fair game for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the program's initial installments apart. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she has returned once again with a "Christmas Special" (or a Christmas special). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The standard components we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – remain, but set of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – providing unasked-for guidance, and delivering 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 a bit of a character, but her aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she looks pleased; she's not doing any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, word and look will be picked apart and scrutinized, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. Since, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is lovely. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but isn't that exactly what Christmas is about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the life she leads seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes with style. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she creates is stunning, her gifts are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Not a single thing is ordinary or visually unappealing – including the way she secures her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but even so, after the degree of scrutiny she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would struggle to act this genuinely. Her decision to alter or even soften her routine, despite it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a reminder that will surely come as a relief: you don't have to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription anymore, and if there were, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are consumed by longing about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a royal or a everyday person, few children fully understands the time and energy their parent puts in in December. So you can console yourself by imagining 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, instead of a sweet treat.
