Admittedly, it's Packed with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and delivering 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 presence is familiar and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems content; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She knows her all subtle gestures, utterance and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but nonetheless looks relaxed and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but isn't that just what Christmas is for? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the life she leads genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with panache. Her cooking looks tasty, the festive decoration she creates is gorgeous, her presents are nearly too beautiful to open. Not a single thing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is organized in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the intensity of examination she has endured since she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this authentically. Her refusal to modify or even tone down her routine, even though it being so constantly, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a point that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished national service these days, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are consumed by envy about her flawless Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a duchess or a data administrator, few children fully understands the effort and hard work their mother expends in the holiday season. So you can take heart by picturing the young royals' faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a chocolate.
