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Prince Andrew is relinquishing his honors, such as the the Duke, he has declared in a personal statement.

He has been under mounting attention over his connections with disgraced financier the financier, with demands for the royal household to take action against him.

That now looks to have caused the royal deciding to voluntarily give up his designations and to give up involvement of the Order of the Garter.

In his statement he said he continued to "vigorously refute the accusations against me".

"In talks with the sovereign, and my close and extended family, we have decided the continued accusations about me take away from the work of His Majesty and the royal household," said a statement from him.

"I have opted, as I always have, to put my duty to my kin and land first.

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

"With the monarch's consent, we believe I must now go a further step. I will therefore no longer use my designation or the awards which have been granted to me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me."

Prince Andrew has encountered a number of scandals, among them a court case he resolved with the plaintiff, questions about his finances and his association with an alleged foreign agent.

He will stay a prince - but will discontinue to be the Duke of York, a honor received from his parent, the former monarch.

The prince had already ended to be a "active member" and had lost the use of his His Royal Highness designation and no longer participated at public engagements. His role now will be even more diminished.

His ex-wife will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer York's Duchess, but their daughters will carry on to have the designation of princess.

He has faced strong examination over his associations with disgraced financier Epstein, more in recent times featuring questions about when he had really cut off communication.

In his television appearance, Prince Andrew had said that he had ended all connections with Jeffrey Epstein after they had been seen together in New York in late 2010.

But messages sent in early 2011 later surfaced suggesting that he had in private stayed in communication with him, such as exchanging a communication: "Stay in contact and we'll play some more soon!"

There had been growing frustration in Buckingham Palace at the controversies that remained to envelop the figure.

Next week a book released after death by Virginia Giuffre will be issued which is likely to bring further attention on the royal's involvement with Ms Giuffre and the financier.