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He is surrendering his honors, such as the the Duke, he has declared in a personal statement.

He has been under mounting pressure over his connections with convicted criminal Epstein, with requests for the royal household to take action against him.

That now seems to have led to the figure deciding to of his own accord return his designations and to give up involvement of the Garter Order.

In his statement he said he continued to "strongly deny the allegations against me".

"In talks with the sovereign, and my direct and broader family, we have decided the continued allegations about me distract from the work of the monarch and the monarchy," said a announcement from Prince Andrew.

"I have chosen, as I always have, to put my duty to my relatives and country first.

"I support my resolution five years ago to stand back from royal engagements.

"With the King's approval, we believe I must now go a further step. I will therefore no longer use my title or the awards which have been bestowed on me. As I have said before, I firmly refute the claims against me."

The royal has faced a number of controversies, including a legal case he settled with an accuser, doubts about his money matters and his involvement with an suspected Chinese spy.

He will stay a member of royalty - but will discontinue to be the Duke of York, a designation granted from his the late Queen, the former monarch.

The prince had already ceased to be a "active member" and had lost the use of his royal style and no longer appeared at official royal events. His position now will be even more lessened.

His former spouse will be known as Ferguson and no longer York's Duchess, but their offspring will persist to have the title of royal princess.

Prince Andrew has encountered intense scrutiny over his links with notorious figure Epstein, more lately including questions about when he had truly cut off contact.

In his television appearance, he had said that he had severed all links with Epstein after they had been seen together in New York in December 2010.

But correspondence sent in early 2011 later surfaced suggesting that he had confidentially remained in contact with him, including swapping a message: "Remain connected and we'll have further interactions soon!"

There had been mounting displeasure in the monarchy at the scandals that persisted to plague the figure.

Soon a late publication by Giuffre will be issued which is expected to draw more focus on Prince Andrew's involvement with the plaintiff and Jeffrey Epstein.