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He is relinquishing his honors, including the York's Duke, he has stated in a personal statement.

He has been under mounting pressure over his connections with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with calls for the royal household to take measures against him.

That now appears to have resulted in the royal deciding to voluntarily give up his designations and to give up involvement of the Order of the Garter.

In his announcement he said he continued to "strongly deny the accusations against me".

"In talks with the King, and my immediate and wider family, we have decided the continued accusations about me distract from the responsibilities of the monarch and the Royal Family," said a statement from him.

"I have opted, as I always have, to put my responsibility to my kin and nation first.

"I uphold my resolution five years ago to withdraw from royal engagements.

"With His Majesty's agreement, we believe I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer employ my designation or the honours which have been granted to me. As I have said earlier, I firmly dispute the accusations against me."

He has encountered a range of controversies, such as a lawsuit he resolved with Virginia Giuffre, inquiries about his money matters and his association with an alleged intelligence operative.

He will stay a member of royalty - but will discontinue to be the York's Duke, a designation bestowed from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

The prince had already ended to be a "active member" and had lost the use of his His Royal Highness designation and no longer participated at public engagements. His role now will be even more reduced.

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

Prince Andrew has encountered intense attention over his associations with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, more recently including questions about when he had actually ended ties.

In his television appearance, Prince Andrew had said that he had cut off all connections with Epstein after they had been photographed together in the city in the end of 2010.

But emails sent in early 2011 later emerged implying that Andrew had in private stayed in contact with the financier, such as exchanging a communication: "Remain connected and we'll play some more soon!"

There had been increasing annoyance in the monarchy at the scandals that remained to envelop the figure.

Next week a posthumous memoir by Giuffre will be issued which is likely to draw additional scrutiny on Prince Andrew's association with Ms Giuffre and the financier.