Indeed, it's Full of Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the program's earlier episodes apart. The common opinion was that a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back for another round with a "Festive Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but within the context of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come together; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and supplying 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 an interesting figure, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems pleased; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She is aware her every micro expression, syllable and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. The reason is, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and over the top – but isn't that precisely what Christmas is for? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the life she leads appears to be shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with style. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the wreath she crafts is breathtaking, her gifts are practically too exquisite to open. Nothing is average or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with festive joy and left with a deep longing for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but even so, after the intensity of scrutiny she has weathered from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her decision to change or even soften her persona, even though it being so persistently, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you don't have to. We don't have national service anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. Whether you're a duchess or a data administrator, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their parent does in December. So you can console yourself by envisioning the young royals' faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a chocolate.
