Discusses the presents that should be bought for the 21^st birthday and wedding of Princess Elizabeth. For their wedding, the royal couple was presented by the Government and people of Australia with two silver comports and two silver salvers valued at £266.

This file contains applications from members of the public requesting to be considered for payment of the Queen’s Bounty.

It also contains a letter from the Privy Purse Office, Buckingham Palace to the Governor-General detailing the scheme:

When the Bounty was instituted by Queen Victoria in 1849, the grant was designed ‘to enable the parents to meet the sudden expenses thrown upon them’ by the birth of triplets, and was conditional upon the parents being ‘in necessitous circumstances’.

In 1938, this condition was abolished, and the Bounty was then recognised as having become not so much a payment of money to help the parents meet the expense, but as an honour which they were privileged to receive from the Sovereign.

Now, more than ever, in view of changes which have occurred and of the fact that the true financial value of the Bounty has so greatly declined, the Queen has decided that the money payment shall cease, but that instead, a message of congratulations shall be sent from Her Majesty to the parents in recognition of the occasion. The rules which will apply as a qualification for the despatch of a congratulatory message from Her Majesty are as follows:

1. Infants must be born alive
2. An assurance has to be obtained of the ‘Reputable character’ of the parents.
3. Both parents must be British subjects or naturalised British subjects
4. Notification must be made within twelve months of the birth of the children.

The congratulatory message should take the following form, and I should be grateful if you would send, in future, such a message to parents who qualify under the above rules:

‘In accordance with the Queen’s commands, the Governor-General is desired to convey Her Majesty’s congratulations to Mr and Mrs (Name in full) on the occasion of the birth of their (triplets/quadruplets).’

When it is known that all the children are still alive, the following words may be added to the message: ‘and her good wishes for the future welfare of the children.’

The Queen and Prince Philip married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947. According to historian Peter Spearritt:

The Melbourne Age reported that the largest radio audience in Australian history listened to the wedding at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947. By 9pm the city was deserted, and teachers the following morning received a record number of ‘please excuse’ notes from parents of children who had been allowed to stay up late ‘to hear the solemn ceremony broadcast from the Abbey’[100].