Admittedly, it's Brimming with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's always hunting season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the series' first and second seasons apart. The common opinion was that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a Christmas special). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid together; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, 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 an interesting figure, but her company is customary and strangely comforting. And she looks content; she's not doing any harm.
She is aware her every micro expression, syllable and glance will be picked apart and criticised, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. Because, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but isn't that just what Yuletide is for? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the example she sets genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the wreath she makes is breathtaking, her presents are almost too pretty to tear into. Not a single thing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't toss a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is positioned in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the intensity of scrutiny she has faced since she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her decision to alter or even soften her routine, even though it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a thought that will certainly come as a comfort: you aren't required to. There isn't the draft anymore, and if there were, it would be improbable to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are gripped with envy about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child truly appreciates the effort and hard work their parent does in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning the young royals' faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, instead of a candy.
