London  - Britain's royal family cost the taxpayer 40 million pounds (80 million dollars) last year, an expense equivalent to the price for two litres of milk or an MP3 player download per person, Buckingham Palace said Friday.

The costs between March 2007 and 2008 were up by 2 million pounds compared with the previous financial year, due to rising expenses for overseas trips and an increase in maintenance costs.

The total was equivalent to 66 pence per person in Britain, an increase of 4 pence, said the palace.

The amount spent on royal travel rose by 600,000 pounds to 6.2 million pounds, caused mainly by a trip to the US in May 2007.

Buckingham Palace officials described the cost of the royal family to taxpayers as "less than the price of two pints of milk or an MP3 player download."

Anti-royal campaign group Republic Friday repeated its demand for reforms to royal spending.

While Britons were told to tighten their belts because of the credit crunch, "the Windsor family digs deeper into the taxpayers' pockets," spokesman Graham Smith said.

Smith called for the Queen to be paid a salary and the monarchy to be budgeted and accounted for in the same way as all other government departments or public bodies. (dpa)