The Duke of York relinquishes his title as York's Duke.

He is giving up his designations, among them the Duke of York, he has declared in a personal statement.

He has been under mounting pressure over his associations with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, with demands for the royal household to take measures against him.

That now appears to have caused the royal deciding to of his own accord give up his titles and to relinquish membership of the Garter Order.

In his announcement he said he continued to "firmly dispute the claims against me".

"In discussion with the sovereign, and my close and wider family, we have decided the ongoing claims about me take away from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family," said a message from the royal.

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

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

"With the monarch's approval, we believe I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer hold my title or the honours which have been bestowed on me. As I have said previously, I vigorously dispute the allegations against me."

Prince Andrew has faced a series of controversies, among them a court case he settled with Virginia Giuffre, questions about his finances and his involvement with an suspected intelligence operative.

He will stay a royal - but will discontinue to be the York's Duke, a honor received from his parent, the Queen Elizabeth II.

The prince had already ended to be a "participating figure" and had forfeited the use of his His Royal Highness designation and no longer participated at official royal events. His position 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 persist to have the honor of princesses.

The royal has been under severe examination over his links with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, more in recent times featuring doubts about when he had truly cut off communication.

In his BBC Newsnight interview, he had said that he had severed all links with Jeffrey Epstein after they had been seen together in New York in the end of 2010.

But messages sent in February 2011 later surfaced implying that he had privately remained in touch with him, such as sending a communication: "Stay in contact and we'll play some more soon!"

There had been growing frustration in the royal household at the issues that remained to envelop the figure.

Next week a late publication by the accuser will be released which is anticipated to draw more attention on Prince Andrew's involvement with the plaintiff and the financier.