home and she's checking out the beach.

The glamorous Royal has just arrived in the shape of English actress Serena Scott Thomas, who played her in the NBC mini-series "Diana: Her True Story''.

The blockbuster show, which aired in Bermuda and across the US earlier this month, was based on a shocking book on the Princess which caused uproar in Britain.

It made an instant star of the willowy former model, who is following up her success with a key part in "Bermuda Grace'', the TV movie now being shot on the Island.

She plays Kathy Madeira, the rebellious daughter of a rich Bermuda resident who swaps life in Government House circles for independence and her own boat rental business.

She has an on-off romance with Sam Grace, played by Bill Sadler, a US detective who comes to the Island to solve a dastardly crime.

The movie is planned as the opener for a five-year series, to be shown -- like "Diana'' -- in the US and the UK.

Miss Scott Thomas, 31, was born in Dorset. She lost her father in a plane crash when she was four. After a career as a fashion and TV commercial model, she joined her sister Kristin as an actress.

For her, "Bermuda Grace'' is a welcome relief from the strain of portraying the world's most famous woman.

"I love Bermuda,'' she says, sipping a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri.

"The people seem to be very fun-loving, and I love the way everything takes so much longer. It makes you realise what a tizz we all get into in London.

"This is a dream job. Kathy is completely the opposite to Diana. To play the Princess I had to wear a wig and lots of make-up and high heels, but this part means very little make-up, very normal clothes that you wear on the beach, and it's more me.

"It involves being thrown off jetties by powerboats going too fast, diving off ships, sailing and snorkelling in caves at night.

"I've just done a scene between Sam and me where we get a little bit closer and almost kiss, which is quite a hard thing to do on your first day.'' When she's not filming, Miss Scott Thomas plans to chase up friends who live on the Island, and just enjoy herself.

Some of Bermuda's more risky activities -- like jet-skiing or moped-riding, are off limits because of insurance rules imposed by her work.

But she was excited by the Ag Show. "I'm a horse fanatic,'' she says. It's all a big change from the hectic seven and a half weeks of work that produced "Diana''.

"It was just 14-hour days, and it was very tough.

"It was a real baptism of fire. It was straight into the mini-series market, and you don't have the best scripts, you have a very short time to work in and there's lots of pressure.

"By the end of it I was completely out of my tree.

"I had a party where we had the tape and we watched the whole four hours in one go. It was a right royal rave.

"My friends really enjoyed it -- it's like watching Dallas or something, it's quite compelling.'' When the show had aired, Miss Scott Thomas found some of the reviews hard to take.

"I found that really difficult to deal with in the beginning, because I felt I had put my heart in it and worked my socks off.

"I had a tremendously strong feeling of sympathy with her when I finished doing it, and when they started saying horrible things about it I really took it personally. People have no idea how much these things hurt.

"But I did learn a tremendous amount and I got a nice little nest-egg.

Financially, it restored some health to my bank account.'' She has no regrets about "Diana'', which dwelt on the Princess' troubled marriage to Prince Charles and on personal traumas, like the eating disorder bulimia.

"I don't think that film made anything worse. If anything it probably made it better for them because you really saw in that film how tough it must be to be a Royal.

"I came away from it feeling a lot more respect for them. Having experience playing that part, it's hell, it's horrible.

"There's no privacy, not a moment's peace. You're always having to look happy and you're not able to do what you want or fall in love with who you want.

It's torture. I couldn't do it.

"They brought the damage upon themselves. I don't actually think that the Press or the media are to blame for it.

"It's a symptom of what's wrong in the way they live and the way they bring up their children.

"The whole thing of that stiff upper lip -- it's so out-dated. "Our Royal Family hasn't modernised itself. I think Diana will be the catalyst, but it's a painful process.'' For the Princess of Wales, the bad times may not yet be over. But for Miss Scott Thomas, life couldn't be better.

Her boyfriend of more than two years, a film student, may be flying to join her soon, and even thousands of miles apart she can enjoy their mututal passion for The Times crossword puzzle, which she has faxed to her from England daily.

She may be working, but this kind of work is really her style. "I've taken my tiara off,'' she laughs. "It's just really nice and relaxing.'' FILM SET -- The film crew of Bermuda Grace get down to business on Front Street. Access to the street was limited, yesterday, to members of the cast and crew of the TV movie set to be aired later this year.