Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the season, it's always open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's initial installments to shreds. The prevailing view held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, intense hospitality – remain, but set of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing random tips, and contributing 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 an interesting figure, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she looks happy enough; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She knows her every micro expression, utterance and look will be analyzed and judged, but nonetheless looks relaxed and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Since, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, nonsense and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent exactly what Christmas is for? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the life she leads seems authentically beautifully curated.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks tasty, the holiday arrangement she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are practically too exquisite to tear into. Not a single thing is average or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she fastens her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't toss a dish in the oven, it "has a moment", and she folds wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the form of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but despite that, after the level of attention she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her decision to modify or even soften her persona, despite it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will always know our position with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her message, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you aren't required to. There isn't mandatory conscription these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are gripped with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a office worker, few children fully understands the time and energy their mother puts in in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning the young royals' faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, instead of a sweet treat.
