Yes, it's Packed with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Love Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's constantly hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the program's initial installments to shreds. The prevailing view was that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a Christmas special). But this time, it's different. The standard components we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – are still present, but within the context of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and contributing 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 quite a personality, but her aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks content; she's causing any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, utterance and look will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. The reason is, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent just what Yuletide is all about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the walk she's walking appears to be beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she pulls off with panache. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is stunning, her presents are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Not a single thing is average or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she fastens her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't toss a dish in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where broccoli is arranged in the likeness of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the degree of scrutiny she has endured ever since she started dating Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to modify or even moderate her routine, even though it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will always know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a point that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you don't have to. We don't have the draft in this country, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are gripped with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, few children truly appreciates the effort and hard work their mum puts in in December. So you can take heart by envisioning 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, in place of a candy.
