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The royal is relinquishing his designations, including the the Duke, he has declared in a individual message.

He has been under mounting attention over his links with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, with demands for the monarchy to take steps against him.

That now appears to have led to the royal deciding to voluntarily hand back his titles and to relinquish membership of the prestigious order.

In his announcement he said he continued to "vigorously refute the allegations against me".

"In discussion with the King, and my close and wider family, we have concluded the persistent claims about me take away from the duties of the monarch and the royal household," said a message from him.

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

"I uphold my choice five years ago to withdraw from public life.

"With the monarch's consent, we think I must now go a further step. I will therefore no longer use my designation or the awards which have been conferred upon me. As I have said before, I firmly deny the claims against me."

He has been involved in a series of controversies, including a court case he resolved with Virginia Giuffre, doubts about his finances and his involvement with an alleged Chinese spy.

He will stay a royal - but will stop to be the the Duke, a title bestowed from his parent, the Queen Elizabeth II.

The prince had already ended to be a "participating figure" and had given up the use of his royal style and no longer was seen at official royal events. His position now will be even more reduced.

His former spouse will be known as Ferguson and no longer York's Duchess, but their children will continue to have the designation of royal princess.

The royal has faced strong scrutiny over his associations with notorious figure Epstein, more in recent times including inquiries about when he had actually ended ties.

In his media discussion, he had said that he had severed all ties with the financier after they had been pictured together in the city in December 2010.

But messages sent in the following year later surfaced indicating that the prince had privately remained in contact with Epstein, including exchanging a note: "Remain connected and we'll meet again soon!"

There had been mounting displeasure in the royal household at the scandals that continued to surround the prince.

Soon a posthumous memoir by Giuffre will be issued which is anticipated to cast additional scrutiny on the royal's connection with Ms Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein.