Yes, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the series' initial installments apart. The common opinion was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she is back for another round with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). But this time, it's different. The standard components we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but set of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan has become the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering random tips, and supplying 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 an interesting figure, but her company is customary and strangely comforting. And she seems pleased; she's causing any harm.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, syllable and look will be dissected and scrutinized, but manages to seem unburdened and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the only time in history where that old chestnut – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – could actually be true. Because, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and extravagant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is all about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the example she sets seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the festive decoration she makes is gorgeous, her presents are practically too exquisite to open. Not a single thing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "has a moment", and she folds gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, obviously, but nonetheless, after the level of scrutiny she has faced from the moment she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would struggle to act this authentically. Her decision to modify or even soften her routine, regardless of it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished the draft in this country, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child completely grasps the time and energy their parent does in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a candy.