Indeed, it's Packed with Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the season, it's always fair game 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 series' earlier episodes apart. The common opinion seemed to be a more egregious regal scandal had seldom occurred than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Christmas Special" (aka a holiday episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – persist, but framed of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
Now, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – offering unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and supplying the odd random outburst. ("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 appears happy enough; she's not doing a bit of damage.
She understands her every micro expression, word and look will be picked apart and scrutinized, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Because, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and over the top – but doesn't that represent exactly what Yuletide is about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the life she leads genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with style. Her recipes looks tasty, the holiday arrangement she makes is gorgeous, her gifts are practically too exquisite to tear into. Nothing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be won over, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but despite that, after the degree of scrutiny she has weathered ever since she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this genuinely. Her decision to change or even tone down her persona, despite it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her brand, a point that will surely come as a relief: you don't have to. We don't have the draft anymore, and were it to return, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are consumed by longing about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a royal or a data administrator, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their mum does in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by imagining Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a chocolate.
