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The royal is surrendering his titles, such as the Duke of York, he has declared in a own words.

He has been under growing pressure over his associations with convicted criminal Epstein, with demands for the monarchy to take steps against him.

That now appears to have led to the prince deciding to willingly give up his honors and to give up involvement of the Order of the Garter.

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

"In consultation with the sovereign, and my close and extended family, we have agreed the continued claims about me divert from the duties of the monarch and the royal household," said a announcement from the royal.

"I have decided, as I always have, to put my responsibility to my relatives and country first.

"I uphold my choice five years ago to stand back from royal engagements.

"With the monarch's agreement, we feel I must now go a additional measure. I will therefore no longer employ my honor or the awards which have been conferred upon me. As I have said earlier, I strongly dispute the accusations against me."

He has encountered a range of controversies, such as a court case he ended with an accuser, doubts about his money matters and his connection with an suspected foreign agent.

He will continue to be a royal - but will stop to be the the Duke, a honor received from his parent, the late Queen Elizabeth.

The prince had already ceased to be a "active member" and had given up the use of his HRH title and no longer participated at state occasions. His status now will be even more diminished.

His ex-wife will be known as Sarah and no longer York's Duchess, but their offspring will persist to have the honor of princess.

He has encountered intense scrutiny over his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, more lately including doubts about when he had actually cut off contact.

In his BBC Newsnight interview, Prince Andrew had said that he had severed all links with the financier after they had been pictured together in NYC in late 2010.

But messages sent in early 2011 later came to light suggesting that he had privately stayed in contact with Epstein, for example sending a communication: "Remain connected and we'll meet again soon!"

There had been mounting annoyance in Buckingham Palace at the issues that remained to surround the prince.

In the coming days a posthumous memoir by Giuffre will be published which is likely to cast additional attention on his association with Virginia Giuffre and Epstein.