Yes, it's Full of Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the time of year, it's perpetually open season for criticism on the Meghan Markle's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the series' first and second seasons to pieces. The common opinion held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she is back once again with a "Festive Special" (also known as a holiday episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The standard components audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – remain, but within the context of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come together; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and delivering 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 company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems content; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She understands her every micro expression, syllable and look will be picked apart and scrutinized, but manages to seem carefree and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, nonsense and flamboyant – but is that not just what Yuletide is about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the walk she's walking appears to be impeccably styled.
Anything she sets her mind to, she pulls off with flair. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the wreath she creates is stunning, her gifts are almost too pretty to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary 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 folds wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the form of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has endured since she became involved with Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to change or even tone down her persona, despite it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will be like this, come what may. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. We don't have national service in this country, and if there were, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are overcome with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. Whether you're a duchess or a everyday person, few children completely grasps the effort and hard work their mum puts in in December. So you can take heart by imagining Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.
