Admittedly, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's constantly hunting season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the series' earlier episodes to shreds. The prevailing view held that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, intense hospitality – remain, but set of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at most festive family gatherings – dispensing random tips, and delivering 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 quite a personality, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems content; she's causing any harm.
She understands her every micro expression, syllable and look will be analyzed and criticised, but still appears carefree and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Since, let's face it, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is lovely. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and extravagant – but is that not exactly what the holiday season is about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the life she leads seems authentically beautifully curated.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the festive decoration she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be won over, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is organized in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but even so, after the degree of attention she has weathered since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her decision to modify or even moderate her routine, regardless of it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a thought that will surely come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. We don't have the draft anymore, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are gripped with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a everyday person, few children completely grasps the effort and hard work their parent does in the holiday season. So you can take heart by envisioning the young royals' faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a chocolate.
