You may know Alexandra Park as the posh princess on The Royals, but get ready to meet the girl beneath the tiara. In her new memoir, Sugar High, Alexandra dives deep into her life, specifically her journey with Type One Diabetes and her acting career. In a personal story of life’s highs and lows, Alexandra’s book is a sweet and honest depiction of re-learning how to take care of yourself in the face of diagnosis. In our interview with Alexandra, we touch on life post-Royals, and her debut as an author, and where she’s going next.

Where are you based?
I am based in Los Angeles where I live with my fiance and my mini Aussie Shepherd, Billie :)

When did you know that you wanted to be an actress?
I actually wanted to be a singer before I wanted to be an actress… but I couldn’t get over my stage fright during school performances so it was a fairly short lived career haha. I was about 12 when I decided I wanted to be an actress :)

You’re really well known in America as the wild-child Princess Eleanor from E’s The Royals. What was your experience like coming to LA for this mega-hit show?
Mind blowing !! If you read Sugar High, I go into a lot of details of exactly what it was like:)

Do you feel like you related to Eleanor throughout the show or did she grow on you?
I felt like I related to her from the beginning, there was a lot of me in her and her in me… I adored Eleanor.. and she will always have a very special place in my heart.

Eleanor was always wrapped up in “will they won’t they” relationships and at the end of season four she was with her series-long love-interest, Jasper. How do you feel about how the show ended for Eleanor’s love life?
I think the abrupt ending was pretty crushing for everyone.. including me… but I think it's safe to say that Eleanor and Jasper got their happy ending… which was very important to me.

What can you tell us about your role in the crowd-funded series Everyone is Doing Great on Hulu?
Yes! I play Andrea, a no nonsense , hard working actress who is married (and soon divorced ) to long time friend and partner Jeremy, who she met on the hit vampire show Eternal.

I also co-produced the show- was involved anyway I could from casting to set design, post production, overseeing the edit and contributing to overall character and story lines. Everyone is Doing Great was a grass roots family affair, and so finding its home on HULU in the US and Paramount Plus worldwide has been an absolute dream come true for us.

We hear that you are currently expecting your authorial debut with your memoir, Sugar High. What can you tell us about it?
Sugar High is a memoir about a time in my life when lightning struck twice. I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes three months before moving over to Hollywood to continue my hustle as an actor. A week or so after I got to LA and knowing very little about type 1 diabetes I somehow landed my wildest dream job, playing an eccentric princess on a TV show called The Royals. I spent the next four years juggling the highs of living my dream and the lows that came with this very complicated, isolating and commonly misunderstood condition. I wrote Sugar High in hopes that sharing my experience might make someone else feel less alone with whatever hurdle they are facing while on their way to becoming who they want to be.

It's a story about surrendering your pride, recognizing that perfection is an illusion, getting over yourself and getting behind yourself. Most of all it's about reminding yourself to enjoy the ride regardless of how rocky it might be.

Part of any diagnosis story is the overarching theme of healthcare, which can be a tricky thing to navigate in general but especially when working abroad. Where did you receive your diagnosis? How were you able to receive care while working abroad?
I was at home in Sydney, Australia when I received my diagnosis and moved to LA about three months after. Shortly after that I moved to London to shoot The Royals, so it was tricky at first, finding care in different territories, but my production, network and studio (Lionsgate and E!) were extremely supportive and always made sure I had the medical care and support I required. Mostly the care came from my friends and colleagues, who went above and beyond to make me feel safe and looked after. I will be forever grateful for the support I received and continue to receive from these life long friends I met along the journey.

This book has a big theme of acceptance, which doesn’t always come easy. What was your journey to acceptance like?
Hard at first, really hard, but eventually it became the greatest and most valuable journey I've ever been on, one that continues to support me in many other areas of my life.

Were some parts of the book easier to write than others?
Absolutely, writing the fun parts was a hell of a lot easier than writing the not so fun parts… but I wanted to be as vulnerable as I could be, to really bare my soul and connect with others. I learnt that the most difficult parts to write were likely going to be the most valuable to share.

What are you hoping that audiences can take away from Sugar High?
My greatest hope is that readers come away feeling like they have made a friend in this book. That they feel empowered, capable and as though they have the ability to do anything they want.

Jejune loves that you are sharing your story to raise awareness of most types of Diabetes. It truly is so common but not a lot of people actually learn about it unless it is very close to their lives through personal diagnosis or having a family/friend with a diagnosis. How do you think a broader awareness of the disease by the general public would impact those with the diagnosis?
Love this! Like I said before.. I knew nothing about Type One before I was diagnosed, and have found myself in some pretty frightening situations that would have gone a lot better if there was a greater awareness of the condition.

Type One can be dangerous to your mental health, this is something that isn’t talked about very much. It can be extremely isolating, oftentimes you can feel like no one understands, which can be dangerous. A broader understanding by the general public would help those living with type 1 feel less alone and increasingly supported.

Part of your book sales proceeds are benefitting Life of a Child. That’s amazing! How did you choose this organization?
There are many people out there living with the type 1 that don’t have access or aren’t able to afford the life-saving technology that this infuriatingly complex condition requires you to keep buying in order to stay alive.

There are thousands of children in developing countries whose health services still don’t have facilities to test blood sugar. This leaves many sufferers and families of sufferers unaware as to why they or their loved ones are so ill. There are children who walk four hours every day to get the bus to the hospital for their life-saving medication. They do this every day because insulin needs to be refrigerated and they cannot afford refrigerators. They can’t take it home with them because it would spoil.

I learned all of this through The International Diabetes Federation’s Life For A Child program. The charity is very close to my heart, and my family's heart. Life For A Child provides care, education, life-saving medicines and support to children living with t1 diabetes in the developing world.

There is nothing more important to me than working towards a world where everyone with type 1 diabetes, no matter where they live, has everything they need to survive and achieve their dreams.

To learn more about Alexandra Park, please follow her via the below platforms:
www.lifeforachild.org
Instagram: @sugarhighbook
Instagram: @alexandrapark1
Instagram: @lifeforachild
Instagram: @everyoneisdoinggreat
Instagram: @rblstudiosla

Team Credits:
Photographer: Vince Trupsin
Stylist: Alex Clough
Make-up: Chris Finley
Hair: Aaron Barry

EDITORIAL: Alexandra Park - The Girl Beneath The Tiara