Yes, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. But I Do Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the time of year, it's constantly open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the program's first and second seasons to shreds. The prevailing view was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the notorious pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she has returned with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – psychobabble word salads, intense hospitality – persist, but set of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – providing random tips, 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 presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems happy enough; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, syllable and look 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 – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. The reason is, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Granted, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and extravagant – but is that not precisely what the holiday season is all about? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the example she sets seems authentically beautifully curated.
Anything she attempts, she executes with flair. Her recipes looks tasty, the holiday arrangement she creates is breathtaking, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she folds wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even moderate her shtick, even though it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will certainly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. We don't have mandatory conscription in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are gripped with longing about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child completely grasps the time and energy their mother expends in the holiday season. So you can take heart by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a chocolate.
