Admittedly, it's Full of Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No concerned with the time of year, it's always fair game for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's first and second seasons apart. The prevailing view held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she is back once again with a "Festive Special" (also known as a holiday episode). Yet now, it's different. The usual elements we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – remain, but within the context of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen together; it's a perfect snow storm.
Now, Meghan is like the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and contributing 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 aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems pleased; she's not doing any harm.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, syllable and glance will be analyzed and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that old chestnut – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – could actually be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Granted, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Yuletide is about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the example she sets seems authentically shop-bought.
Anything she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she makes is gorgeous, her presents are practically too exquisite to tear into. Nothing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but even so, after the degree of examination she has faced from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her refusal to alter or even tone down her persona, despite it being so persistently, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, whatever happens. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a thought that will certainly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are overcome with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a royal or a data administrator, no kid truly appreciates the effort and hard work their mum does in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by picturing the young royals' faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.
