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THE DAY DIANA DIED.

The musical chairs fiasco over who will preside over the inquest into the death of Princess Diana borders on being a sick comedy. The fond memories we have of Diana in life are kindred to the happy memories, those of us who are old enough, have of the Kennedy-Camelot years in The White House.

My personal recollections of Diana are related to the trip she and her two sons took to Island of Nevis, West Indies in December 1992, four years and eight months before her death. I own a public relations agency which, for several years, promoted the tourism interest of St. Kitts and Nevis. I was on Nevis when she came in 1992, and I happened to be on Nevis again on that tragic August day in 1997.

Rather than bringing up the painful, sad memories of Paris, I prefer to share with you her movements and the little-known events of that Nevis trip. Events herewith that I did not personally witness, were related to me by others who did. The passages framing Diana's thoughts and state of mind during that trip are all things she freely spoke about with others, during and afterward. Very, very little of what you will read here has ever appeared anywhere, save in the pages of "To Kill A Princess, The Diana Plot."

Please step back with me in time and see a happier, relaxed Diana.

The corners of Princess Diana's mouth curved upward ever so slightly as she took the proffered hand of the Scotland Yard protection service detective and stepped out of the vehicle into the lush entrance courtyard at Montpelier Plantation Inn on the small West Indian island of Nevis.

The princess' signature blond coiffure had been set aflame by the tropical sunlight and appeared more lustrous than usual. Her hardly audible "Thank you" was genuine and intended to be personal, specific to the detective assisting her.

During the 18th century, Montpelier Estate was a working sugar plantation and site of the 1787 marriage of future Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson to a wealthy local widow, Fanny Nisbet. The tree under which the couple was married is a short walk down the road from the inn's entrance.

The Governor General of Nevis met Diana and her two sons upon their arrival on the island hardly 45 minutes earlier, and now formally introduced Montpelier's owners, James and Celia Gaskell and their children, to the princess. Close by, but at a respectful distance, two of the five Scotland Yard Special Branch Detectives assigned as the royal protection detail appeared to be casually taking in the surroundings.

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