PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd surprised some Australian tourists today when he turned up in central London to lay a wreath at a memorial dedicated to thousands of diggers.
Mr Rudd and his wife Therese Rein flew into London this morning (GMT) from the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, and made their first official stop at the Australian War Memorial at Hyde Park Corner to lay a wreath of yellow roses.
A crowd of more than 100 onlookers, including several Australian tourists, were stunned to see Mr Rudd and his entourage of security men and women strolling towards the grey stone memorial shortly before midday (2200 AEDT).
After a quick informal wreath-laying ceremony, Mr Rudd spent time examining the memorial, which lists the hometowns of the Australian war dead and the places around the world where they fought as British allies.
The prime minister was eager to chat with the crowd of Australian tourists and even the odd visitor from Hong Kong who gathered around greeting him with cries of "G`day Kev" and taking photographs.
After chatting to a few tourists from Adelaide, the prime minister looked around and quipped: "Any Queenslanders here?"
Ian Jensen, who had travelled from the far north Queensland town of Mackay with his partner Deb, thrust his arm in the air and laughed as he chatted with the prime minister.
"He mentioned to me to say g`day to our local MP," Mr Jensen told reporters after his short chat with the prime minister.
"He`s a great guy, he`s very approachable."
Mr Rudd said he was pleased to have had the chance to revisit the memorial, which was opened with much pomp and ceremony by the Queen and former prime minister John Howard in 2003.
"It`s always good to come to memorials. I came for the opening of it, and it`s great to be back," he said.
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