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Prince Andrew is relinquishing his honors, including the Duke of York, he has declared in a individual message.

He has been under mounting attention over his connections with disgraced financier the financier, with demands for the monarchy to take measures against him.

That now appears to have resulted in the figure deciding to of his own accord hand back his titles and to relinquish membership of the Garter Order.

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

"In consultation with the sovereign, and my close and wider family, we have decided the persistent claims about me take away from the responsibilities of the King and the royal household," said a announcement from him.

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

"I support my decision five years ago to step back from public life.

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

He has been involved in a number of scandals, among them a court case he settled with an accuser, questions about his economic affairs and his association with an suspected Chinese spy.

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

The prince had already ended to be a "participating figure" and had forfeited the use of his HRH title and no longer was seen at state occasions. His role now will be even more reduced.

His previous partner will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer York's Duchess, but their offspring will continue to have the honor of royal princess.

The royal has faced severe scrutiny over his connections with disgraced financier the financier, more recently involving questions about when he had truly severed ties.

In his media discussion, he had said that he had cut off all ties with Epstein after they had been seen together in NYC in late 2010.

But emails sent in early 2011 later emerged indicating that he had privately stayed in touch with the financier, such as swapping a note: "Remain connected and we'll play some more soon!"

There had been growing annoyance in Buckingham Palace at the scandals that persisted to envelop the figure.

Soon a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre will be published which is expected to draw additional focus on Prince Andrew's involvement with Ms Giuffre and the financier.