Right before she lost the prime ministership last month, Gillard had been busy knitting a kangaroo toy for Will and Kate's new baby.

She even stoked the controversy flames by posing for photographs with the Australian Women's Weekly while knitting the unsuspecting marsupial.

Some people thought it wasn't prime ministerial to be spotted among so many balls of wool.

Gillard of course disagreed, saying there was more to her than the daily combat of politics. The former prime minister explained that she knitted for babies ''in part, because because they are smaller projects, I've got not that much time in my life. You can get them done and there's a sense of satisfaction in having completed it''.

Now we have the awkward situation where everyone knows that a roo has been knitted but Gillard, a republican, no longer has the PM's title that would have elevated the gift from home-made trinket to diplomatic token.

So what to do? On Tuesday, Gillard's office had no comment as to whether or not the toy would be posted to London. However, a source close to the member for Lalor said that she may still send the animal.

Indeed, if she doesn't send the gift, it would be a waste of a roo. And it may seem ungracious to withhold the present just because she had some recent bad luck.

But on the other hand, would it make things uncomfortable for Kensington Palace, with such an obvious rival to the bilby-esque theme of Kevin Rudd's offering?

I mean who would grandstand over the birth of an innocent new baby?