Yes, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No concerned with the time of year, it's always open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the program's earlier episodes to shreds. The general consensus held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she has returned once again with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). But this time, things have shifted. The usual elements audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, overzealous entertaining – persist, but within the context of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – offering unasked-for guidance, and delivering the periodic peculiar declaration. ("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 aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she appears happy enough; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She is aware her every micro expression, syllable and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem carefree and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Since, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and extravagant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Yuletide is for? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the life she leads genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she executes with flair. Her cooking looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she creates is breathtaking, her presents are almost too pretty to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or visually unappealing – including the way she secures her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a dish in the oven, it "has a moment", and she folds wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the level of scrutiny she has weathered ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would struggle to act this authentically. Her decision to modify or even soften her routine, even though it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a point that will surely come as a relief: you are not obligated to. There isn't the draft these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a duchess or a office worker, few children truly appreciates the effort and hard work their mum puts in in December. So you can take heart by picturing Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a sweet treat.
