Stars, Stripes, Hype : Patriotism: Leona Helmsley, free pending appeal of her convictions for tax evasion, fraud and conspiracy, takes public displays of support for U.S. troops to magnificent heights.

For billionaire hotel queen Leona M. Helmsley, the last three weeks have been a coming-out party of sorts.

But the felon wants to make one thing clear: It was patriotism, not publicity-seeking, she says, that inspired her to sing “God Bless America” after having the Empire State Building decked out in red, white and blue on Aug. 29.

It was a desire to influence the Iraqi tyrant, not the hope of spin-doctoring the appeal of her convictions for tax evasion, mail fraud and conspiracy that compelled her to buy a full-page “open letter to Saddam Hussein” in Monday’s New York Times. (The general rate for such an ad is $44,453, a newspaper spokesman said.)

It was her love of her country, she says, that prompted her Tuesday night to light up the Helmsley Building with a giant flag.

“I did it,” Helmsley says, leaning forward on her desk at the Helmsley Palace hotel, “because I am an American.”

She got the idea for her public displays of patriotism after hearing President Bush speak on the Kuwait crisis, she says: “I thought that the American public should get behind the President. . . . Those that don’t like our flag and want to burn it, let them go home. Those that don’t think our national anthem should be sung, let them go to another country. We have the most wonderful country in the world, and this is my way of showing it.”

Her letter reads in part:

“Dear Mr. Hussein:

“As your troops terrify innocent men, women and children; as your occupation forces loot Kuwaiti cities; as your security forces smash down the doors of apartments looking for foreigners to intern, you keep referring to these victims as ‘guests.’

“I know something about how one is supposed to treat guests, Mr. Hussein. I have been inviting guests from around the world into my hotels for 18 years.. . . In your bizarre world where detention centers have become hotels and hostages have become guests, I can make one recommendation that I have never made in all the years that I have been welcoming people: Mr. Hussein, it is time to check out. . . .”

Helmsley says the assertion that the letter may be a bizarre bid to overcome her own image as a tyrant is “nonsense” and “ludicrous.”

She says she wrote the letter herself, then let her high-profile public relations firm and her lawyer read it. Neither suggested that such a letter might prove imprudent at this delicate moment in the judicial appeals process.

“They thought it was a wonderful thing to do. Very patriotic. . . . They said, ‘How did you ever think of anything so wonderful?’

“I can’t conceive how anyone could think it’s a publicity stunt,” she says, her face, much scrutinized during the trial, growing taut, her right eye twitching. “I didn’t create this stuff in the Middle East. How could it be a publicity stunt?”

Rather, she says, her activities are intended to inspire Americans. “I hope people will put a flag in front of their house. I hope they will wear a flag on their clothes,” she says, her hand adorned with a ring containing a pearl the size of a quail egg, gesturing to the four American flag pins on the lapel of her navy suit.

Helmsley is convinced the public will rally behind her patriotic efforts, just as they have rallied, she says, behind her legal battles.

During her trial and conviction last year in a U.S. District Court, for which she received a sentence of four years in prison, 750 hours of community service and a $7.1-million fine, the media dubbed Helmsley “The Queen of Mean,” after former employees offered a litany of complaints about her imperious and cavalier management style. Quickly, the coverage itself became mean-spirited.

“But I understand that,” Helmsley says. “There was a gag order out. I was not permitted to speak to the media.” With the gag order lifted, though, her public image has changed, she says. “The public has turned. They like me.”

To illustrate this national mood swing, Helmsley, 70, asked an aide to bring out folders containing some of the “thousands and thousands and thousands” of letters of support she has received--a clear contrast to the hate mail her attorney produced at Helmsley’s sentencing. A perusal shows encouragement from individuals, flooring companies, tropical fish companies and even an inmate at Lompoc, offering advice on how to fight tax charges.

Many correspondents eventually get around to other matters: “We would like to obtain funds so we can open a pet shop,” one wrote, for instance. But most express admiration for Helmsley and anger at the media for their portrayal of her. “The media, in order to generate class hate, has tried to convict you.. . . “ a writer from Elmhurst, Ill., wrote. “All I can recall is Donnie Trump’s statement, ‘It couldn’t happen to a nicer person. . . . ‘ Well, look at little Donnie now,” another wrote.

Before moving on to a live interview with a San Diego radio show, Helmsley takes a moment to point out music boxes she has given her ailing husband, Harry Helmsley, over the years. From a walnut shelf she removes a box with a drawing of King Kong atop the Empire State Building grasping a caricature of her husband, reputedly one of New York’s wealthiest men and the owner of a controlling interest in the legendary skyscraper. Gently clasping her visitor’s arm, she turns on the box and softly sings along: “I’m just wild about Harry, and Harry’s wild about me.”

Later that evening, Helmsley arrives by limousine at a landscaped traffic island outside the Helmsley Building on Park Avenue and wades into the small crowd consisting mainly of staff members with American flag pins on their lapels, a platoon of public relations people, and the press.

She shakes hands with employees, waves at passing motorists, busses a reporter who interviewed her for the November Playboy, and scratches the chin of his ribbon-bedecked cocker spaniel.

Then, with a flourish, she steps up behind a podium. At her signal, 169 employees behind curtains in the elegant building push plugs into sockets, and an American flag of red white and blue lights, 148 feet tall and 104 feet wide, emblazons the building.

“God bless America!” Helmsley says over the honks of passing taxis. “God bless the hostages!”

One of her employees watches the scene admiringly. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it,” the woman says. “She’s a real Yankee Doodle Dandy. She was born on the Fourth of July, you know.”