Admittedly, it's Full of Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's perpetually fair game for commentary on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the program's initial installments to pieces. The common opinion held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a yuletide episode). Yet now, it's different. The usual elements audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – remain, but within the context of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing random tips, and delivering the occasional strange exclamation. ("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 quite a personality, but her company is customary and strangely comforting. And she seems content; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She understands her all subtle gestures, word and glance will be picked apart and judged, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, nonsense and extravagant – but is that not just what Christmas is for? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the example she sets genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with flair. Her cooking looks tasty, the festive decoration she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are practically too exquisite to tear into. Not a single thing is average or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but despite that, after the level of attention she has faced from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even soften her shtick, regardless of it being so constantly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her message, a point that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished national service anymore, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are overcome with longing about her flawless Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a royal or a office worker, no kid fully understands the dedication and labor their mum expends in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning the young royals' faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a candy.
