LONDON -- She sold more books in a single day at Harrods than Margaret Thatcher and drew more media than Cher. She was none other than "that woman," Monica Lewinsky.

The White House intern who nearly brought down Bill Clinton's presidency yesterday began the first day of the rest of her life as an international celebrity.

And it was lights, cameras, near-chaos as Lewinsky posed for the media and signed copies of her book, "Monica's Story," at Harrods, one of the world's best-known department stores.

She stood and smiled under the relentless barrage of camera flashes and reporters' questions for nearly 10 minutes, until the smiles appeared to turn to tears and she fled beneath a sign that pointed to the china department.

The cameras were cleared, the books were brought out and a store spokesman said Lewinsky was suffering from a touch of flu. But trouper that she is, Lewinsky returned to cheers from the waiting crowd. She then sat behind an antique desk and signed about 450 books.

It was the start of Lewinsky's nearly two-week British book tour. She'll be coming to a mall near you, if you happen to be living in England or Scotland.

Normally, it's the British who export sex scandals and mistresses, not the Americans. But times change. Still, it's not clear how well Lewinsky will sell in Britain. Only 3 million people watched her interview that aired last week on Britain's Channel Four. British publicist Max Clifford, who once represented O.J. Simpson, said recently that Lewinsky has already used up 14 of her allotted 15 minutes of fame.

Yet at Harrods, they had never seen anything like the Full Monica. And that's saying something. In 1997, the store became the focus of worldwide grief after Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, son of the Harrods' owner, were killed in a Paris car accident.

But this was different, a combination freak show, news event and nice little earner, staged near the "Luxury Washrooms."

Store spokesman Peter Willasey said that with pre-orders and day sales -- numbering 1,150 --Lewinsky outsold Thatcher in her Harrods appearance. The 200 media members who crammed into the book department also set a store record, bettering the press pack that followed the likes of Cher, Goldie Hawn and the current James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, who have all heralded sale days.

People waited up to three hours to discover for themselves what Lewinsky looked and sounded like. They also wanted to have a scrap of history, her forceful handwriting on a book page.

What they saw was a smiling, fresh-faced 25-year-old, wearing silver earrings, a blue pin-striped pants suit, black stockings and shoes.

"She looked smaller and prettier than I thought she would," said James Bentley, a 21-year-old student from London.

"She came across really nice," said Jo Brodie, 29, a hair stylist from New Zealand. "She's a lot different than what you imagined."

The crowd was filled with American tourists. For them, meeting Lewinsky was like going to Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London.

"I'm just coming to see the sin," said Chris Carlton, 25, a United Methodist minister from Atlanta.

His friend, Phillip Sherman, said he was paying his respects to Lewinsky "after all the hours of entertainment she gave us."

"I found her to be a very attractive young woman," Sherman said. "If she wasn't who she was, I'd like to ask her on a date. But I think she's out of my league now."

Could anything else in Britain top a Lewinsky autograph?

"Maybe if we met the queen," Sherman said.

Rebecca Todd, a 21-year-old from Rocky Mount, N.C., convinced her 50-year-old mother, Kathy, that a trip to London just wouldn't be complete without stopping by to get Lewinsky's autograph.

"We get to be up close and personal with Monica and feel her pain," Rebecca Todd said.

Said Kathy Todd: "I'm going to ask her to sign the book, 'for my Stud Muffin, from your bunny.' "

Ben Sayeg, 20, from Houston, was delighted that Lewinsky had hit town. For a year, he has been studying at the University of Westminster, and following the scandal from afar.

"About all the British know about America is Monica Lewinsky and Jerry Springer," he said.

Sayeg's British classmate, Nadine Tamone, came along to get Lewinsky's autograph. But Tamone tried to keep the outbreak of Monica mania in perspective.

Tamone said: "She's no Diana."

Pub Date: 3/09/99