Yes, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's perpetually fair game for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the program's initial installments to shreds. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the notorious pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a Christmas special). However on this occasion, it's different. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – remain, but framed of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan has become the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – offering unasked-for guidance, 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 a bit of a character, but her aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks pleased; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, syllable and gaze will be dissected and judged, but manages to seem carefree and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. The reason is, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and over the top – but is that not precisely what the holiday season is about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the life she leads genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with panache. Her cooking looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but even so, after the intensity of examination she has endured from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would struggle to act this genuinely. Her unwillingness to change or even tone down her shtick, even though it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you don't have to. There isn't mandatory conscription in this country, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are overcome with envy about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a royal or a data administrator, no kid completely grasps the time and energy their mum does in December. So you can find comfort by imagining her children's faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.