Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No concerned with the time of year, it's always fair game for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's initial installments apart. The common opinion held that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back for another round with a "Christmas Special" (aka a Christmas special). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but set of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing unasked-for guidance, 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 oddly reassuring. And she looks content; she's inflicting any harm.
She knows her all subtle gestures, word and glance will be dissected and criticised, but manages to seem carefree and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. The reason is, you know what?, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and over the top – but doesn't that represent exactly what Yuletide is for? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the life she leads seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with style. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she makes is stunning, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is ordinary or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the form of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of scrutiny she has endured ever since she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her decision to modify or even soften her routine, even though it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. There isn't national service these days, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are consumed by longing about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a duchess or a everyday person, hardly any child fully understands the effort and hard work their mother expends in December. So you can find comfort by imagining Archie and Lilibet's 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 chocolate.
