Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. But I Do Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when enthusiastically shredding the program's first and second seasons apart. The common opinion was that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a holiday episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – remain, but within the context of a holiday show, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she seems happy enough; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, utterance and look will be dissected and scrutinized, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is lovely. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and extravagant – but is that not precisely what the holiday season is about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the walk she's walking appears to be shop-bought.
Anything she sets her mind to, she pulls off with panache. Her recipes looks tasty, the wreath she crafts is stunning, her presents are almost too pretty to unwrap. Not a single thing is mediocre or ugly – including the way she fastens her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the level of scrutiny she has weathered from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this genuinely. Her unwillingness to change or even tone down her persona, regardless of it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will always know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a thought that will certainly come as a reassurance: you don't have to. There isn't mandatory conscription anymore, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are consumed by jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a royal or a data administrator, hardly any child completely grasps the dedication and labor their mother does in December. So you can console yourself 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, rather than a chocolate.