Indeed, it's Packed with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the time of year, it's perpetually open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the program's first and second seasons apart. The common opinion held that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she is back once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a holiday episode). But this time, things have shifted. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – persist, but within the context of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering unsolicited, unnecessary advice, 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 presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks happy enough; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, syllable and gaze will be analyzed and scrutinized, but still appears relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. The reason is, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, nonsense and over the top – but doesn't that represent exactly what the holiday season is for? And the words she speaks might be ridiculous, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she sets her mind to, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks tasty, the festive decoration she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to open. Not a single thing is average or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she fastens her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is organized in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the degree of examination 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 genuinely. Her decision to change or even tone down her persona, despite it being so persistently, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will certainly come as a comfort: you don't have to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription these days, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are gripped with envy about her flawless Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a royal or a data administrator, hardly any child fully understands the effort and hard work their mother puts in in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, instead of a chocolate.
