Britain's Prince Andrew will stop using his Duke of York title after facing fresh questions over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew, King Charles III's younger brother, said in a statement issued via Buckingham Palace that he would "no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me."

The decision was taken "in discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family," he said, after concluding that "the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.

"As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me," Andrew said.

His former wife, Sarah Ferguson, will no longer be known as the Duchess of York.

Andrew stepped back from public duties in 2019 and returned his military affiliations and later royal patronages in January 2022, after his lawyers failed to persuade a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse.

He later paid a substantial sum to Epstein abuse survivor Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17. Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegation. Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41.

Giuffre's family on Friday called the decision a "vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere."

"This decisive action is a powerful step forward in our fight to bring Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking network to justice," Giuffre’s family said.

Friday's decision comes after the Mail on Sunday and the Sun on Sunday newspapers published an email, not verified by NBC News, reported to have been sent by Andrew to Epstein in 2011, after a photograph was published showing Andrew with his arm around Giuffre.



"We are in this together," the newspapers reported that the email read. "Play some more soon."

The palace did not respond to an NBC News request for comment on the email.