Complicated, talented and difficult, Princess Louise was once also compared by her governess with a stormy day. "She was stormy one minute and sunny the next -- a bit like Bermuda!'' says Jocelyn Motyer Raymond, guest curator of the Bermuda National Gallery's latest exhibition devoted to the watercolours of `The Rebel Princess'.

Queen Victoria's daughter, along with Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), is credited with establishing late 19th century Bermuda as a vacation paradise.

What was not known until fairly recently was that Princess Louise had also left behind a tangible and evocative reminder of 19th century Bermuda in the form of her remarkable paintings.

"In 1992, I was talking to a curator from the National Gallery of Canada who asked if I was aware that they had some pictures of Bermuda painted by the Princess. So I stopped by in Ottawa and was extremely impressed by their quality. I asked the gallery here if they would be interested in showing them and, basically, I've been researching this exhibition ever since. The problem was that Canada had only five Bermuda paintings and this seemed a bit sparse for a show! We needed to supplement them and thought about using other contemporary Bermuda artists but, frankly, she had so much more professional training than the others that it was decided to do a total `Princess Louise' exhibition, focussing around the tourist trade. After all, there's no doubt that the number of visitors doubled after she came here. And as we could see that she really was a very good artist, we decided to select other paintings from the collection in Canada.'' Altogether, a total of 27 watercolours will be shown.

Mrs. Raymond believes there must be other Bermuda paintings which, so far, have yet to be uncovered. "I've looked all over the place, and I'm hoping any publicity this show elicits will bring some more out of the woodwork,'' she says.

For the National Gallery's exhibition, five of her Bermuda watercolours form the core of `The Rebel Princess: Watercolours by HRH The Princess Louise (1848-1939)' which opens to the public on Saturday.

In spite of the high quality of her Bermuda paintings, Jocelyn Raymond believes these still pale in comparison with some of her other work. The Princess trained primarily as a sculptor and, says Mrs. Redmond, one of her statues recently received publicity around the world. "There is a statue of Queen Victoria sitting on her throne in Kensington Gardens. After the death of her husband, Kensington Palace became her home and, of course, was also the home of Princess Diana. The statue could be seen quite clearly in all the TV footage covering her death.'' The connection with Princess Diana does not, however, end there. Mrs. Raymond believes they shared several qualities of character. "She was a vegetarian, and had her own fitness trainer because she didn't want to end up looking like her mother, she worked for women's education and was tremendously faithful in visiting war veterans in hospital -- all hands-on stuff. I do see shades of Princess Diana in her!'' Both were impetuous and at times, rash. "She had to stand up for herself to prevent being stifled by Queen Victoria who plunged her into mourning when Albert died -- she was only 13 and her mother tried to keep her at her beck and call. Her mother was opposed to women's rights -- so she opposed her mother! She was one of the few people whom Queen Victoria was slightly afraid of! She was a very fascinating person, way ahead of her time, I think.'' So far ahead, it seems, that the Queen decided that something had to be done about the tempestuous Princess who rebelled against convention and preferred the company of her `bohemian' friends and was "rather predatory with her sisters' husbands!'' A husband had to be found, a list of eligibles was produced, and Louise chose the Marquess of Lorne. It was am unwise decision and the marriage was very unhappy.

When her husband became Governor-General of Canada, Princess Louise found the life boring and parochial after London. "Ottawa was a lumber town and, I imagine, quite a shock for her. At her first official reception a member of parliament kicked her ermine train out of the way to get at the champagne! And she hated the cold weather. When she was opening Parliament the horses reared and tipped her sleigh over. After that, she suffered from facial neuralgia which was made worse by the cold climate, so perhaps that's one of the reasons she came here.'' Bermuda offered her the freedom she craved. Apart from infrequent official engagements, Princess Louise could move around freely without crowds following her. "She wore calico and gingham dresses and stout boots, played tennis, walked a lot and was very athletic. She absolutely loved the life here. When she left, she was late for the tug taking her out to the ship. She had just got on board when she noticed a woman who'd come to see the tug leave, but had missed it. The Princess made the tug turn back, and she ran up the steps to give the woman a farewell hug. She was so impulsive -- not easy to live with -- but extraordinarily kind.'' Mrs. Raymond says it has been a rewarding experience to work so closely with the National Gallery of Canada's Rosemarie Tovell. "She is their Curator of Prints and Drawings and is lecturing here as well as working with me in training docents for the show. She is very highly respected in North American art circles and she believes that Princess Louise was a very fine artist in her own right. I must say,'' she adds, "that the staff in Canada were amazed when they saw the quality of the Princess's work. It had been returned to Canada after her death and, basically, had been tucked away in albums.'' Jocelyn Raymond, who has written two separate essays for the show's catalogue, is based in Halifax but spends her winters here. Well known in Canada's academic circles, she won one of the four scholarships then offered in Bermuda which took her, initially, to Mount Allison University.

Although her field is development psychology, Mrs. Raymond's early career was in journalism as a reporter for the Mid Ocean News and The Royal Gazette .

"Even when I was teaching at the University of Toronto at the Institute of Child Study I also wrote a weekly column for The Globe and Mail so I've always had a foot in each door!'' In spite of the large amount of time spent researching this exhibition, Mrs.

Raymond is also writing a novel. "My first book was on child development psychology -- a strictly academic book. The next was `Saturday's Children, a study on children who came `From London Workhouse to Bermuda Indenture in 1850'.'' Her current work is based on the true story of her uncle. "He was Bermuda's second Rhodes Scholar who was killed in World War I.'' `The Rebel Princess: Watercolours by HRH The Princess Louise' will be exhibited in the Ondaatje Wing and Mezzanine Floor of the Bermuda National Gallery from January 25 through April 11.

Rosemarie Tovell of the National Gallery of Canada will give a lunch-time lecture today at the Gallery, commencing at 12.30 p.m. and Jocelyn Raymond will lecture at the same time on February 12.