$15 per month to some organization. my father sent it to any way. i found out later. i thought i would go with him but he died. i was on their trip to egypt in 2006. i was on a beach to see saudi arabia, jordan and israel and i said if i don't get myself there i am never going. i will be like moses to see the land but never enter. i made a reservation with mileage. so i decided to rent an apartment and take my work because i am a writer. i had two names but did not

know anybody. i went during the war. i was not sure what would happen in. i stayed because i loved it and i did not need to come back. i do for work every few months but i made so many good friends. more there than in california. kids and family are in california. i don't know what happened. but i have not mastered the hebrew language which is a great failure of my life. i still do not want to leave. what do they think? what is said to? into israel there are 1 million kinds religious factors secular that go to synagogue and sound that want nothing to do with any

of it then every degree of orthodox certain ways do tip fact or be ears. and the same is true of christians. the arab christians have a very little sense of the evangelical western christians. it is a hodgepodge. announcing very many people are a judge on there christiane your duty is some unless they are totally obnoxious. [laughter] this year among the christians that they are proselytizing are to have an ankle of armageddon. i don't know.

i don't know anybody that does that. i have never known a christian to have that motivation but to bring forth the end of day i don't know anybody who does that. but people get over that. but we were just impressed with his face because he was so outspoken and his courage under the threat of death and it was near death. she was very impressed with that. he bears on his body the suffering of the true faith

and courage. i hope he comes to america to speak. he has a good message you're not supposed to be reading. >> host: i know. i have many more questions. one issue that comes up powerfully in the book, coming up in different ways when you talk about at the news from muslim countries, as somebody was asked why don't the jew make of big deal out of it?

one said we do not look back but start over and rebuild and that is what we are today. it is true to raise the issue is partially because and has a bearing on the question of the palestinian refugees but people are not inclined. it was getting on with life. similarly, in an odd way another aspect of this although it is part of the

israeli experience, not every family has lost someone in fighting or terrorist acts but everybody has a friend or the friend of a friend. or the holocaust. i thought the most powerful example was having attended a memorial held annually for a death. the death of a famous israeli soldier. of course, it is a sad event but the spirit of the event is not preoccupied with the death. >> guest: no.

the reason israelis can be joyful to have holidays and singing they have the perspective of death that americans don't have. the memorial service in is a tribute to. >> host: i take it for granted that he was the commander of the raid of 1976 which was a spectacular commander raid their rescued people who were taken hostage by the palestinian and german terrorist. he was the only casualty on the israeli side. >> guest: it was miraculous. also the older brother of prime minister that conneaut

to and there was another brother. so he is quite a great hero in their eyes. but the point* is everybody has been touched by death, loss and horror from holocaust survivors. people realized life is precious and they know how to celebrate. the night the first siren went off in jerusalem, i thought something had gone wrong with the shabbat siren. the neighbor said are you okay? she said that was the air raid. i didn't want to go because i wanted to search see internet to see what happened to. [laughter] she said put it in your

pocket in case your kids call. then there was singing and we forgot about the siren. we did not talk about that we would talk about everything under the sun. yes it may go off again but life is not controlled by that but the spirit of hope and building and faith that is the undercurrent. >> host: day que very much , lela. anything else you want to say? >> guest: no. [laughter] i have said the net. >> host: go out and buy the book "saturday people, sunday people". [applause]

>> host: is queen elisabeth rollback to a republican or democrat? >> we will never know. sheathe is scrupulous about maintaining neutrality. it is a great guessing game. the better question would be whether she is a laborer or tory party but in the course of the 60 years she will get along with every -- her 12th prime ministers from winston churchill who was born in the 19th century and served in her great

great-grandmother's army to david cameron who was born after her youngest child prince edward. she has opinions which she will express and private, but extremely careful to not make political statements in public. i was told about one that was amusing that robert title one of the american ambassador's during george of the bush came for the presentation of his credentials and then there was the congestion tax that was a political hot potato and being imposed to keep them from driving into london the american embassy maintained there were not

liable to pay because they said it was a charge but they call it the tax. robert tuttle arrived for his credentials they went through the formalities then the informal discussion and she said, and stand you think the congestion charge is the tax? she said it is and she said of course, it is. the diplomatic corps turned white at the prospect but that is very unusual. with her relationship with american presidents, she bonded with them on a personal basis but nothing to do with politics. >>host: with several

instances you indicated she has a wicked sense of humor. >>guest: she does. she spends a lot of time in scotland is a great mimic and does a good gordon brown. but her sense of humor is subtle and dried and one of my favorite examples back in 2003 an american lady was in waiting celebrating her 70th birthday held at a nightclub on the square. the queen was very excited because she had not been to a nightclub since the 1940's when she was married. she had a wonderful time and was seated next to lord salisbury one of the most

illustrious aristocrats and the next day she went to the of lords of london and was introduced to dignitaries by the dean of the heavy and he said to the clean. he said you know, him she said yes robert and i were in the nightclub last night. that is the dry humor. >>host: sandy dedell smith is a guest. "elizabeth the queen" is the topic. we will begin with a caller from new york. >> caller: my question is with this band of the queen elizabeth's reign one of the

longest in the history of the u.k. with all the prime minister's she has worked with how has that impacted her as a queen from your knowledge? >>guest: she has a vast store of information. she does not have the ideological filter. she takes things and and why she is so valuable to the people who come to her for confidentiality. prime ministers meet with her for one hour every week but others, she has the wisdom as well as a body of knowledge and an extraordinary memory for things. when public officials come

to her to ask for guidance, they always remark, even if they are skeptical with a private audience, and nobody else is in the room to record which gives them freedom to say what is on their mind. harold wilson, a labor prime minister in the '70s is hard to say but she had an affectionate relationship with him. the private secretary said he considered her to be a very astute diplomat of the political scene. she can size people up and

understand the new ones of a political situation. these things have given her a valuable role. not just a figurehead but a range of duties that people don't fully appreciate that i tried to explain in the book. >> i wanted to know does the queen is the fact she cannot go out even in london? how she went out with her sister at the end of world war ii and to the only time she was free to explore. >>guest: it was true. it was just imposed on her that her governess did take her out with the underground and the buses but she was not a queen said she had

more freedom. it is just part of the structure of her life. she has less structure on her private estate especially in scotland at balmoral with tens of thousands of acres because she can go into the hills and ride horses and at age 86 she still does. so she does have that opportunity to have a sense of freedom on her own property but prince philip has had more latitude to get out and about and he used to drive about london in his

own taxicab and would wear a chauffeur's cap and his protection officer would sit in the back seat. he would love to drive around and being undetected. the clean gets out more than you imagine to have dinner at her friend's home and to have dinner in somebody's kitchen or the older ones who don't have as much money any more, she will go there was just one protection officer. gives her some measure as well. >>host: kansas you are on with sally bedell smith. >> caller: i enjoyed

reading your book on princess diana you wrote shortly after she passed away. with your book on the queen did you discover more about her relationship with diana and how you would describe the relationship with princess diana? >>guest: i did discover more. in 1998 shortly after her death that story was from the perspective of diana. but she was very young and immature when she became the princess of wales. the queen made a point* to say she had an open door and she could talk to her, the queen is very busy and diana was intimidated and did not

avail herself to that as much as she should have. they had a good relationship but only fell apart when the andrew morton book came out in 1992 that had damaging information about prince charles and also that she had cooperated. then at that point* the queen's relationship was not a good. i discovered more from the queen's point* of view that she had been welcoming. i was not as aware of fact the first time around looking from diana's experience. >> what role does her english can faith in her

life with the public and personal level? >>guest: a profound role. her faith is extremely important to her. daily laugh ft 103rd archbishop of canterbury told me as a consequence of her face she can take to almost anything the world throws up her. she has an appreciation of what can or cannot be accomplished but partly a result of life experience. as the head of the church of england, it is part of her role as clean station -- queen. but looks at a glad it

service. the most profound was the coronation. and in researching backed the guy did not appreciate, the central element is not on the crown was put on her head but when she was anointed with the whole league oil and a solemn vow as the representative of her people that she would serve her people and tell us. that is why the notion of abdication would not occur to her. she has made this sacred vow. there's a lot of aspects of her calendar like the service of remembrance to commemorate the war dead or

monday thursday that she observes to commemorate the washing of the feet and is now done to hand out money to those on attention to thank them for their service. i did not fully appreciated. a great sense of evidence of her commitment. >>host: texas you are on the phone. >> caller: what is the future of the monarchy after elizabeth? as any chance that charles could be bypassed going straight to william? >>guest: for a lot of

reasons including the enormous affection for the queen it has been expressed with the diamond jubilee year preceded by a the wedding of william and kate the british monarchy is more popular today than ever. american presidents would kill for the approval rating she has had pretty consistently for decades that is about 80%. there is a hard-core 20 percent that would prefer to see the monarchy and and replaced with a republic. it is strong now. she has modernized the

monarchy in incremental ways and kept pace with modern times and people recognize that. she is very aware to appeal to younger people and the way the jubilee was celebrated, she tries to appeal more and more. it is significant on the last day of the celebration celebration, the royal family was on the balcony the queen, the duke had he not been in the hospital, william, kate, pri nce charles, camilla, harry. she was sending a message the succession is secure and it will be prince charles. he had the longest waiting prince of wales but she has

made very clear he is next in line. it could be she will rain another tender 15 years. she is very robust but to skip a generation and choose someone would never occur to her. >>host: we have a young lady. >> what is your favorite book ever written and why? >>guest: one of the books i have written or my favorite? i have three children i would not know what to say but the one that i am working on now this elizabeth book is my favorite but i like all of

them. they have been intriguing subjects. they have all been quite different. >>host: "elizabeth the queen" at the national book festival in washington d.c. with sally bedell smith montana. you are on the air. >> caller: does the queen acknowledge the base is anglo-saxon driven? >>guest: definitely. she has a lot of german heritage. her family began with george from mac 12 was descended from hanover that came over in the 18th century and when

queen victoria married prince albert from germany but there is in english strain as well. the queen mother was from an english slavish scottish family. it is a mix. there is a significant german lineage. it was a problem right before world war i when the family name was very germanic and her grandfather king george five change the names of all people so they were less germanic and other names were