Yes, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's always fair game for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the program's initial installments apart. The general consensus seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, it's different. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – persist, but set of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing 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 company is customary and oddly reassuring. And she looks pleased; she's not doing any harm.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, word and look will be analyzed and criticised, but still appears unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Yuletide is for? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the example she sets seems authentically impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with style. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the wreath she makes is stunning, her presents are almost too pretty to unwrap. Nothing is average or ugly – including the way she secures her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but nonetheless, after the intensity of examination she has endured from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her decision to change or even tone down her persona, even though it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. There isn't the draft these days, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are gripped with longing about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a office worker, few children completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent expends in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.
