Yes, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the season, it's always open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the series' earlier episodes to pieces. The prevailing view seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she is back for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a Christmas special). Yet now, it's different. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – offering random tips, and delivering 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 a bit of a character, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she appears content; she's not doing any harm.
She is aware her every micro expression, utterance and look will be dissected and criticised, but still appears relaxed and serenely untroubled.
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, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is lovely. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and extravagant – but isn't that precisely what Christmas is for? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the example she sets appears to be shop-bought.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with panache. Her recipes looks tasty, the festive decoration she creates is stunning, her presents are almost too pretty to tear into. Nothing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she folds wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but even so, after the intensity of attention she has endured ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would struggle to act this authentically. Her decision to change or even soften her shtick, despite it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will always know our position with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a thought that will surely come as a comfort: you aren't required to. We don't have the draft anymore, and were it to return, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are consumed by jealousy about her flawless Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a royal or a everyday person, few children completely grasps the time and energy their parent does in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by imagining the young royals' faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a candy.