🔗 Share this article

The royal is giving up his honors, among them the Duke of York, he has stated in a own words.

He has been under mounting pressure over his links with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with demands for the royal household to take action against him.

That now seems to have caused the prince deciding to willingly return his designations and to surrender involvement of the Garter Order.

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

"In discussion with the monarch, and my immediate and extended family, we have decided the continued allegations about me take away from the duties of His Majesty and the royal household," said a announcement from Prince Andrew.

"I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and land first.

"I stand by my decision five years ago to withdraw from public life.

"With the King's agreement, we feel I must now go a further step. I will therefore no longer hold my title or the awards which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously dispute the accusations against me."

The royal has faced a range of issues, such as a legal case he settled with Virginia Giuffre, doubts about his finances and his association with an suspected Chinese spy.

He will stay a royal - but will discontinue to be the the Duke, a title bestowed from his the late Queen, the late Queen Elizabeth.

Andrew had already stopped to be a "working royal" and had given up the use of his His Royal Highness designation and no longer appeared at state occasions. His role now will be even more diminished.

His former spouse will be known as Ferguson and no longer Duchess of York, but their daughters will carry on to have the designation of princesses.

The royal has been under intense attention over his associations with convicted sex offender the financier, more recently including questions about when he had really ended ties.

In his media discussion, the royal had said that he had cut off all links with Jeffrey Epstein after they had been seen together in New York in December 2010.

But correspondence sent in the following year later emerged implying that Andrew had privately remained in communication with the financier, for example swapping a message: "Remain connected and we'll have further interactions soon!"

There had been growing annoyance in the monarchy at the issues that persisted to surround the royal.

Next week a late publication by Virginia Giuffre will be issued which is anticipated to cast more focus on the royal's involvement with the plaintiff and the financier.