Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will be the "chief guest" and give the keynote speech at the 25th anniversary gala dinner for the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) on Saturday night.
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As the chairman of the ARM from 1993 until 2000, Turnbull led the "yes" campaign in the failed 1999 republic referendum and championed a parliamentary republic.
He blamed the loss on then prime minister John Howard and labelled him the "prime minister who broke this nation's heart".
As PM, Turnbull has softened his stance on the republic, saying he believes Australia should ditch the monarchy only after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The PM's attendance at the $3,000-a-table dinner in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney had been ridiculed by the Australian Monarchist League (AML), which says it will split the Coalition government and turn voters "into the arms of minor parties".
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"We know that more Coalition voters support the constitutional monarchy than not. They are prepared to tolerate Malcolm Turnbull because he has made the proviso 'not yet'", the AML said on Monday.
"His now active support ... of a republic will throw even more conservative and traditionalist voters into the arms of minor parties, such as the Christian Democrats, One Nation and the Liberty Alliance."
