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Prince Andrew is relinquishing his titles, among them the Duke of York, he has declared in a personal statement.

He has been under mounting scrutiny over his connections with convicted criminal Epstein, with requests for the monarchy to take measures against him.

That now looks to have led to the figure deciding to of his own accord give up his honors and to relinquish involvement of the Garter Order.

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

"In talks with the King, and my direct and wider family, we have decided the ongoing claims about me divert from the responsibilities of the monarch and the Royal Family," said a statement from the royal.

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

"I uphold my decision five years ago to stand back from official duties.

"With His Majesty's consent, we think I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the distinctions which have been granted to me. As I have said previously, I firmly dispute the accusations against me."

The royal has been involved in a number of scandals, among them a lawsuit he settled with the plaintiff, inquiries about his finances and his association with an suspected Chinese spy.

He will continue to be a royal - but will cease to be the the Duke, a designation bestowed from his parent, the former monarch.

He had already ended to be a "participating figure" and had forfeited the use of his HRH title and no longer participated at official royal events. His role now will be even more lessened.

His previous partner will be known as Sarah and no longer York's Duchess, but their children will persist to have the designation of princesses.

Prince Andrew has been under severe attention over his associations with notorious figure Epstein, more lately featuring questions about when he had actually cut off communication.

In his media discussion, he had said that he had severed all links with Jeffrey Epstein after they had been pictured together in New York in December 2010.

But messages sent in early 2011 later emerged indicating that he had in private stayed in contact with the financier, including exchanging a communication: "Remain connected and we'll play some more soon!"

There had been mounting annoyance in the monarchy at the scandals that persisted to plague the prince.

Soon a late publication by Giuffre will be issued which is likely to bring more attention on the royal's association with the plaintiff and Jeffrey Epstein.