Indeed, it's Full of Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's constantly fair game for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the series' initial installments to shreds. The general consensus seemed to be a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Festive Special" (or a holiday episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – remain, but set of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and contributing 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 presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she seems content; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She understands her every micro expression, utterance and gaze will be dissected and judged, but still appears unburdened and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Yes, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and over the top – but is that not precisely what Christmas is for? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the example she sets appears to be impeccably styled.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she creates is stunning, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she wraps wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, filled with festive joy and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the level of examination she has faced since she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would struggle to act this genuinely. Her refusal to change or even tone down her shtick, even though it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are gripped with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a royal or a office worker, few children completely grasps the time and energy their mother does in December. So you can take heart by imagining her children's faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a candy.
