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He is surrendering his titles, among them the Duke of York, he has announced in a personal statement.

He has been under growing pressure over his associations with convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein, with calls for the royal household to take measures against him.

That now seems to have resulted in the figure deciding to willingly give up his designations and to give up involvement of the prestigious order.

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

"In talks with the monarch, and my direct and wider family, we have decided the continued allegations about me distract from the work of the King and the royal household," said a announcement from Prince Andrew.

"I have chosen, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.

"I support my choice five years ago to withdraw from official duties.

"With the monarch's approval, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the awards which have been granted to me. As I have said before, I firmly dispute the claims against me."

Prince Andrew has encountered a series of controversies, such as a lawsuit he ended with an accuser, inquiries about his money matters and his involvement with an alleged foreign agent.

He will stay a royal - but will discontinue to be the York's Duke, a honor granted from his the late Queen, the former monarch.

Andrew had already ended to be a "active member" and had lost the use of his HRH title and no longer appeared at state occasions. His status now will be even more lessened.

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

The royal has faced strong examination over his associations with disgraced financier Epstein, more in recent times involving questions about when he had truly cut off ties.

In his media discussion, he had said that he had ended all ties with Epstein after they had been pictured together in the city in the end of 2010.

But emails sent in the following year later surfaced suggesting that Andrew had privately stayed in contact with the financier, such as sending a communication: "Stay in contact and we'll have further interactions soon!"

There had been mounting annoyance in the royal household at the issues that remained to surround the royal.

In the coming days a late publication by Giuffre will be released which is likely to draw more attention on his association with Ms Giuffre and the financier.