QUEEN OF HEARTLESSNESS?; NO ROYAL LOVE LOST, SAYS BOOK ON DI'S DEATH.

Paul McCartney once sang, ``Her majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have much to say.''

But if you believe the portrait painted of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II by Christopher Andersen in ``The Day Diana Died'' (William Morrow; $27), then nice is not the word that you'd apply to her royal highness - and what she almost didn't say is telling.

According to Andersen's book, which hits stores today, the queen showed ``an astonishing lack of emotion - even for the reserved monarch'' when informed of Princess Diana's death from a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997. She then insisted that Prince Charles not wake the children - William and Harry - to tell them of their mother's death. Charles then waited until morning to break the news to the boys, at which point they all ``wept unashamedly.''

Later, at breakfast, according to Andersen, neither the queen nor Prince Philip hugged their grandsons, but in typical British reserve did tell the children how ``terribly sorry'' they were, and the queen insisted that they go to their scheduled morning church service.

The church service, at the queen's orders, made no mention of Diana's death, but had a sermon that contained a number of jokes, prompting Harry to ask Charles, ``Are you sure Mummy is dead?''

Apparently, the queen's real concern was the royal jewels. The book says that after hearing of Diana's death, the queen called the British Embassy in Paris, wanting to know if Diana had any royal jewels when she died and demanded that they be ``returned immediately.'' An envoy was dispatched to the hospital where Diana's body lay, but the princess apparently wasn't wearing any jewels when she was killed.

Charles and even his girlfriend, Camilla Parker-Bowles, come off much better in this straightforward account by Andersen, who has written two less-than-flattering books on the Kennedys (``Jack and Jackie'' and ``Jackie After Jack''). Parker-Bowles is said to have told Charles to ``concentrate on the boys. They need you.'' And over his mother's objections, Charles flew to France to claim his former wife's body and had white lilies (Diana's favorites) sent to the room where her body lay.

Meanwhile, according to Andersen, William was puzzled over why the flag over Buckingham Palace was not lowered to half-mast right after Diana died, (the flag was not lowered for several days) and why the royal family stayed at its Balmoral, Scotland, retreat while Diana's body was in London.

What will make ``The Day Diana Died'' fascinating reading for many is the behind-the-scenes struggles within the royal family. It took Charles and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to prevail upon the queen to speak to the nation. This was only after Charles, the book says, told her he would go on TV and apologize for her ``apparent callous disregard for the people's suffering'' and that it became clear that her silence would endanger the monarchy.

``The Day Diana Died'' is likely to raise eyebrows - if not stiff upper lips - with some of its revelations. Here are a few others:

Dodi Fayed, who was killed with Diana, intended to ask her to marry him that night and was upset that the paparazzi was interfering with his plans. He decided to play a game of cat-and-mouse with them before the crash.

Diana intended to say no.

Diana's final words were ``My God, what's happened?''

At her request, Diana's casket had a window above her face.

Her face was virtually untouched after the crash.

Charles almost passed out when he first saw Diana dead.

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Photo: no caption (Book cover - THE DAY DIANA DIED)