Indeed, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the season, it's perpetually hunting season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the program's earlier episodes to shreds. The prevailing view held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she has returned for another round with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, overzealous entertaining – persist, but framed of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan is like the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing random tips, and supplying 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 oddly reassuring. And she seems happy enough; she's inflicting any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, syllable and look will be dissected and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. The reason is, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and extravagant – but is that not exactly what Christmas is all about? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the life she leads genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with panache. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the festive decoration she crafts is breathtaking, her gifts are practically too exquisite to open. Not a single thing is average or ugly – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the degree of attention she has weathered from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this genuinely. Her decision to change or even soften her shtick, regardless of it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a reminder that will certainly come as a relief: you don't have to. The UK has abolished the draft anymore, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a royal or a office worker, few children fully understands the effort and hard work their mother puts in in the holiday season. So you can take heart by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a sweet treat.
