Avowed republican Malcolm Turnbull has met the Queen and exchanged pleasantries with her at the Commonwealth leaders' meeting in Malta.
The pair met at a luncheon for new Commonwealth leaders hosted by the Queen at the San Anton Palace on Friday.
Photographs show Mr Turnbull smiling down at the Queen as she looks up at him.
Earlier the pair had joined more than 50 other Commonwealth leaders for the official CHOGM photograph.
Mr Turnbull was previously chairman of Australia's republican movement and after the failure of the 1999 republic referendum he accused then-prime minister John Howard of "breaking the nation's hearts".
But on becoming prime minister in September he said the republican issue was not on the cabinet's agenda, as there were more important issues such as the economy to deal with.
"My own view for what it is worth ... is that the next occasion for the republic referendum to come up is going to be after the end of the Queen's reign," he said at the time.
The prime minister flies from Malta to Paris on Sunday for key talks to reach a global agreement on tackling climate change.
