Indeed, it's Full of Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the season, it's constantly open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The common opinion was that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned with a new offering with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a holiday episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – remain, but set of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and contributing 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 quite a personality, but her aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks happy enough; she's inflicting any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, utterance and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. Since, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and over the top – but doesn't that represent just what Yuletide is for? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the example she sets seems authentically impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she pulls off with panache. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she creates is stunning, her presents are practically too exquisite to tear into. Not a single thing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung 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 cynical observer not be won over, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the likeness of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the degree of attention she has endured from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this authentically. Her refusal to change or even soften her routine, even though it being so constantly, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her message, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. We don't have the draft anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are gripped with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a data administrator, no kid completely grasps the effort and hard work their mum puts in in December. So you can console yourself by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a sweet treat.
