The Duke of York gives up his designation as Duke of York.

He is surrendering his titles, including the York's Duke, he has declared in a individual message.

He has been under increasing scrutiny over his associations with sex offender Epstein, with requests for the royal household to take action against him.

That now looks to have caused the royal deciding to voluntarily return his honors and to relinquish membership of the Garter Order.

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

"In discussion with the sovereign, and my direct and extended family, we have decided the continued allegations about me take away from the duties of the King and the royal household," said a message from Prince Andrew.

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

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

"With the monarch's consent, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer employ my title or the honours which have been bestowed on me. As I have said before, I strongly deny the allegations against me."

The royal has encountered a series of scandals, among them a lawsuit he resolved with an accuser, inquiries about his money matters and his association with an suspected foreign agent.

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

The prince had already ceased to be a "working royal" and had lost the use of his His Royal Highness designation and no longer participated at public engagements. His position now will be even more diminished.

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

He has been under intense examination over his links with disgraced financier the financier, more in recent times involving inquiries about when he had actually severed communication.

In his media discussion, Prince Andrew had said that he had ended all connections with Jeffrey Epstein after they had been pictured together in NYC in late 2010.

But correspondence sent in February 2011 later surfaced suggesting that he had in private remained in touch with the financier, for example swapping a communication: "Remain connected and we'll meet again soon!"

There had been mounting annoyance in the monarchy at the controversies that persisted to surround the prince.

Soon a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre will be issued which is likely to draw further focus on Prince Andrew's involvement with Ms Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein.