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

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

That now seems to have caused the royal deciding to voluntarily return his titles and to give up participation of the Order of the Garter.

In his statement he said he continued to "firmly dispute the accusations against me".

"In consultation with the monarch, and my direct and extended family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me take away from the duties of the monarch 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 country 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 title or the distinctions which have been bestowed on me. As I have said previously, I vigorously dispute the accusations against me."

Prince Andrew has encountered a series of scandals, among them a legal case he resolved with an accuser, inquiries about his finances and his involvement with an suspected intelligence operative.

He will remain a prince - but will discontinue to be the the Duke, a title bestowed from his the late Queen, the former monarch.

He had already ended to be a "working royal" and had forfeited the use of his HRH title and no longer participated at public engagements. His status now will be even more lessened.

His previous partner will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer the Duchess, but their offspring will continue to have the title of princesses.

Prince Andrew has faced strong attention over his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, more in recent times featuring inquiries about when he had truly ended contact.

In his television appearance, Prince Andrew had said that he had severed all ties with the financier after they had been photographed together in NYC in December 2010.

But emails sent in early 2011 later emerged implying that Andrew had in private continued in touch with him, including swapping a note: "Stay in contact and we'll have further interactions soon!"

There had been growing frustration in the monarchy at the scandals that persisted to envelop the royal.

Next week a late publication by the accuser will be published which is likely to draw additional scrutiny on his association with Virginia Giuffre and the financier.