Admittedly, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the season, it's perpetually hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The prevailing view was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a Christmas special). But this time, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, overzealous entertaining – are still present, but framed of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen together; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – providing random tips, and supplying 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 quite a personality, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems pleased; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She understands her all subtle gestures, syllable and look will be dissected and judged, but nonetheless looks carefree and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Since, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and extravagant – but isn't that precisely what Yuletide is for? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the walk she's walking seems authentically beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the festive decoration she makes is gorgeous, her presents are practically too exquisite to open. Nothing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she secures her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she creases gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, obviously, but even so, after the intensity of examination she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even moderate her routine, despite it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a thought that will certainly come as a relief: you aren't required to. There isn't mandatory conscription anymore, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are overcome with longing about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a everyday person, hardly any child truly appreciates the time and energy their mother does in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by envisioning the young royals' faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a chocolate.
