Admittedly, it's Packed with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's constantly fair game for commentary on the Meghan Markle's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the series' earlier episodes to pieces. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she has returned once again with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). But this time, it's different. The standard components we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, overzealous entertaining – remain, but set of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – dispensing random tips, and delivering 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 aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks happy enough; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, utterance and gaze will be analyzed and criticised, but nonetheless looks unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and flamboyant – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is all about? And the words she speaks might be ridiculous, but the example she sets genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she attempts, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks tasty, the wreath she creates is gorgeous, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Not a single thing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she creases wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, bursting with holiday spirit and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is organized in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the intensity of scrutiny she has endured from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her refusal to change or even moderate her routine, even though it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished the draft these days, and if there were, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are consumed by jealousy about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a royal or a office worker, few children fully understands the time and energy their mother expends in December. So you can take heart by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a sweet treat.
