Indeed, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's always open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the series' earlier episodes apart. The prevailing view held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the notorious pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she is back for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a Christmas special). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The standard components audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – remain, but set of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan has become the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, 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 oddly reassuring. And she seems pleased; she's inflicting any harm.
She knows her every micro expression, syllable and glance will be dissected and criticised, but manages to seem carefree and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, nonsense and over the top – but isn't that just what Christmas is for? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the walk she's walking seems authentically impeccably styled.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with panache. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the wreath she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to open. Not a single thing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she fastens her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she folds wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, bursting with festive joy and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her decision to change or even tone down her persona, even though it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a point that will certainly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished the draft in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are overcome with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their parent expends in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by picturing her children's faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.