Admittedly, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly fair game for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when gleefully ripping the program's initial installments to pieces. The common opinion was that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she has returned for another round with a "Festive Special" (or a yuletide episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – are still present, but set of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan is like the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – offering unasked-for guidance, 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 oddly reassuring. And she looks content; she's inflicting any harm.
She understands her all subtle gestures, word and look will be analyzed and scrutinized, but manages to seem relaxed and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. Since, you know what?, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the example she sets genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Whatever she attempts, she executes with style. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the wreath she makes is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she secures her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she folds wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but despite that, after the degree of scrutiny she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would struggle to act this naturally. Her refusal to modify or even tone down her shtick, despite it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will always know our position with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a thought that will surely come as a relief: you are not obligated to. There isn't the draft these days, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, hardly any child completely grasps the dedication and labor their mum puts in in the holiday season. So you can take heart by imagining her children's faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, instead of a chocolate.
