Yes, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. But I Do Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the time of year, it's always open season for criticism on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the series' initial installments apart. The common opinion was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she has returned with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). Yet now, it's different. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – persist, but within the context of a holiday show, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan is like the oddball family member at most festive family gatherings – 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 looks content; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, utterance and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. Since, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and extravagant – but is that not exactly what Christmas is for? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the walk she's walking appears to be shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she pulls off with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is stunning, her gifts are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – including the way she fastens her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't toss a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she folds wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with festive joy and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is arranged in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the intensity of scrutiny she has endured from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would struggle to act this naturally. Her decision to change or even moderate her shtick, despite it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a reminder that will certainly come as a relief: you aren't required to. We don't have national service these days, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are overcome with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a royal or a office worker, no kid fully understands the time and energy their mother expends in December. So you can console yourself by picturing the young royals' faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.
