Australian Prime Minister pictured knitting toy kangaroo for royal baby

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard appears every bit the dutiful house wife in a series of photographs in which she is seen knitting a cuddly toy kangaroo for Britain's royal baby.

The image may seem at odds for a premier known both her feminist values, and her opposition to monarchy.

The images appeared in the glossy magazine Australian Women's Weekly, although it is reported that the prime minister's office proposed the idea.

Ms Gillard, who says she has knitted gifts for other babies, described the shoot as "an opportunity to show a side of me".

Read: Nine more surprising things about the royal baby's birth

Mr Gillard has said in the past that she wants Australia to become a Republic. As a Commonwealth realm, Australia currently looks to Queen Elizabeth II as its sovereign monarch.

She insisted the pleasure of knitting for the royal baby hadn't changed her stance on the monarchy:

In the photographs, Ms Gillard is seen sitting in an arm chair surrounded by balls of brightly-coloured wool. A small dog sits in a basket at her feet.

"I guess my life is full of the engagements that politics brings and some are them are quite combative engagements," she said. "But that's not all of me. [Knitting the kangaroo] is an opportunity to show a side of me."

"I can't imagine Laurie Oakes [an Australian political commentator] saying: 'Hmmm, knitting patterns. What are you working on at the moment?'"

Asked whether the kangaroo would be formally presented to the future monarch, she replied: "I suspect our nation will probably do something a little more than a stuffed kangaroo."

Read the full interview on the Australian Women's Weekly website.