Prince Andrew surrenders his designation as the Duke.

The royal is surrendering his honors, such as the York's Duke, he has declared in a personal statement.

He has been under mounting pressure over his connections with convicted criminal Epstein, with demands for the monarchy to take measures against him.

That now appears to have caused the figure deciding to willingly give up his designations and to relinquish involvement of the prestigious order.

In his announcement he said he continued to "firmly deny the allegations against me".

"In discussion with the King, and my immediate and broader family, we have concluded the persistent claims about me divert from the work of the monarch and the royal household," said a statement from Prince Andrew.

"I have chosen, as I always have, to put my responsibility to my family and land first.

"I uphold my decision five years ago to step back from official duties.

"With His Majesty's approval, we think I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer hold my title or the honours which have been granted to me. As I have said before, I strongly refute the claims against me."

The royal has faced a series of scandals, including a court case he resolved with the plaintiff, doubts about his finances and his association with an suspected Chinese spy.

He will remain a prince - but will discontinue to be the the Duke, a title received from his parent, the late Queen Elizabeth.

He had already stopped to be a "working royal" and had lost the use of his HRH title and no longer appeared at official royal events. His status now will be even more diminished.

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

Prince Andrew has been under strong attention over his associations with notorious figure the financier, more lately including doubts about when he had truly cut off communication.

In his BBC Newsnight interview, he had said that he had cut off all ties with the financier after they had been seen together in New York in December 2010.

But emails sent in the following year later emerged indicating that Andrew had in private continued in communication with Epstein, for example sending a communication: "Keep in close touch and we'll meet again soon!"

There had been mounting frustration in the monarchy at the issues that continued to plague the royal.

In the coming days a posthumous memoir by Giuffre will be published which is likely to draw more focus on his association with Ms Giuffre and the financier.