Known as the Royal Bounty (King's / Queen's Bounty), a discretionary payment was made to new mothers of triplets in the 19th and 20th century. I have just written an Irish Diary about some Irish people who received the payment. Read it here.
It is believed that the Royal Bounty for triplets was started by Queen Victoria when she heard about a poor Irish woman who gave birth to triplets in 1849. The term 'Royal Bounty' was used in other cases as well - such as when a soldier lost a limb in the line of duty, they could receive a payment as compensation. There are also references to the term 'Royal Bounty' when pension payments to army officers were mentioned, so it would seem that it was used to describe a variety of payments made by the monarch to individuals. As this book Royal Bounty: The Making of a Welfare Monarchy suggests, Victoria and other royals instigated a number of payments that would today be made by the state.
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