Malcolm Turnbull has met with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, despite being a staunch republican.
At a press conference ahead of his royal visit, he said that “politics is full of unpredictable events.”
“All I can say is … most Australian republicans are Elizabethans as well.”
Turnbull co-founded the Australian Republican Movement, which is currently pushing for a 2020 advisory ballot to determine whether Aussies want an Australian head of state and how they should be chosen.
That would then be followed by a referendum in 2022, but Turnbull doesn’t believe the Australian public would support another referendum during the Queen’s reign.
While he wouldn’t reveal what they spoke about, he said that meeting her was “an honour”.
“I obviously look forward to her advice and wisdom,” he said.
“She’s after all known and advised many, many prime ministers.”
Turnbull’s visit to Buckingham Palace comes as the last event in his week-long trip to Germany, France and England, following the G20 summit in Hamburg where he had a rocky time.
On the Friday morning of the controversial event, protestors dressed all in black rushed towards the entrance of the luxury Park Hyatt hotel in Hamburg where Turnbull was staying (along with Vladimir Putin), sparking a security scare.