A visibly annoyed Kevin Rudd rejected suggestions he was using a church service in Reid attended by the Queen to grandstand yesterday.
''Try again,'' the Foreign Minister said to one reporter who had described his Saturday arrival back in Australia from Manila as ''lucky timing''.
''If I'm not here [at the church of St John the Baptist in Reid] I'm at church in Brisbane; if I'm not there I'm at church somewhere else around the world.''
Although born and raised a Catholic, Mr Rudd has been attending Anglican services with his wife, Therese, since the 1980s.
A regular member of the congregation at St John's, he was the highest ranking politician to take part in yesterday's service attended by the Queen and Prince Philip.
The Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, the Right Reverend Stuart Robinson, and the Rector of St John's, the Reverend Paul Black, both confirmed Mr Rudd and his family were regular attendees.
''He [Mr Rudd] comes here to church when he's able,'' Bishop Robinson said.
They also said that outside of the royal party only members of the congregation had been present inside the church. There were no dignitaries or special visitors.
This was in keeping with the Queen's desire to attend a ''normal service of worship''.
Mr Rudd's mother-in-law, Elizabeth, was his escort for the day with Therese Rein arriving a short time later. He skirted the republican debate, choosing to focus on the Queen's place in history.
''I am not going there,'' he said in response to a question about former prime minister Paul Keating's description of the monarchy as an anachronism.
''She [the Queen] is an extraordinary woman. Anybody with a knowledge of history knows the Queen has been a source of strength not just in Britain but around the world right back to the darkest days of World War II.''
He said the Queen provided the British people with ''extraordinary continuity''.
''I think all Australians, whether they are republicans or not, would have a special affection for her - as Therese does, as I do and as Therese's mum, Elizabeth, does.''
Asked how the service went he said: ''It [going to church] is what the Queen does; she's always welcome - as she should be.''
Mr Rudd said he had asked his mother in law if she had been named after the Queen.
''She said 'no dear, I was born a year earlier'.''
Mr Rudd, who stayed on long after the royal party left for their formal luncheon, mingled freely and with no visible security presence with his fellow congregationalists.
Many took the opportunity to have their pictures taken with the once, and possibly future, prime minister.
The media pack, which numbered more than 30, came in for censure from church officials for chatting outside the door during the service.
''This [the entrance to the church] is like a megaphone,'' the beadle [a church usher] said. ''Everything you say out here echoes inside.''
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