Yes, it's Packed with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the time of year, it's perpetually open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the program's first and second seasons to shreds. The general consensus held that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a yuletide episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – persist, but set of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – offering unasked-for guidance, and supplying 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she appears pleased; she's causing a bit of damage.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, syllable and look will be picked apart and judged, but still appears carefree and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps 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, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, nonsense and flamboyant – but isn't that precisely what Yuletide is all about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the example she sets seems authentically beautifully curated.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the wreath she makes is stunning, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to open. Nothing is mediocre or visually unappealing – including the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she folds wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where broccoli is positioned in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but even so, after the level of examination she has endured since she met Prince Harry, the love child of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this naturally. Her refusal to modify or even soften her routine, despite it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will surely come as a comfort: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished national service these days, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you choose to watch and are gripped with envy about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a duchess or a everyday person, few children completely grasps the time and energy their mother does in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a sweet treat.
