Five years after retreating from the public eye amid scandal over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew says he will be giving up his royal title, duke of York.

In a statement released on Friday by Buckingham Palace at London, the younger brother of King Charles III said that he and the royal family had concluded that “the continued accusations” are a distraction to the Crown.

“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 public life,” the prince said in a released statement.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.” 

“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

The statement follows the release of selected passages from Virginia Giuffre’s forthcoming posthumous memoir. Giuffre, who committed suicide in April, had claimed that Epstein trafficked her and that she had sex with Andrew when she was a minor.

A new batch of documents released from the Epstein files last month confirmed connections between the prince and the disgraced financier.

Flight records from May 2000 indicate that Prince Andrew flew with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to Florida from New Jersey. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on charges related to Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme. 

Additionally, financial documents reveal payments made in February and May 2000 for massage services for an individual listed as “Andrew,” though it’s uncertain whether this refers to the prince.