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He is giving up his titles, among them the Duke of York, he has stated in a individual message.

He has been under growing scrutiny over his associations with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, with demands for the Palace to take measures against him.

That now looks to have led to the royal deciding to voluntarily hand back his honors and to relinquish participation of the Garter Order.

In his message he said he continued to "vigorously dispute the claims against me".

"In discussion with the sovereign, and my close and extended family, we have concluded the continued claims about me distract from the responsibilities of the monarch and the royal household," said a message from Prince Andrew.

"I have chosen, as I always have, to put my obligation to my kin and land first.

"I stand by my resolution five years ago to stand back from official duties.

"With the King's approval, we think I must now go a additional measure. I will therefore no longer employ my honor or the awards which have been granted to me. As I have said earlier, I firmly deny the allegations against me."

He has encountered a number of issues, among them a lawsuit he settled with the plaintiff, inquiries about his finances and his involvement with an accused intelligence operative.

He will stay a prince - but will discontinue to be the York's Duke, a designation bestowed from his the late Queen, the Queen Elizabeth II.

The prince had already stopped to be a "active member" and had given up the use of his His Royal Highness designation and no longer appeared at official royal events. His status now will be even more lessened.

His ex-wife will be known as Sarah and no longer York's Duchess, but their offspring will persist to have the designation of royal princess.

The royal has faced severe attention over his associations with notorious figure the financier, more recently involving inquiries about when he had actually ended communication.

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

But correspondence sent in February 2011 later came to light indicating that he had privately remained in communication with Epstein, for example exchanging a message: "Remain connected and we'll have further interactions soon!"

There had been increasing displeasure in the monarchy at the scandals that remained to surround the figure.

In the coming days a posthumous memoir by the accuser will be issued which is likely to bring additional scrutiny on his involvement with Ms Giuffre and the financier.