UK's Prince Andrew to give up Duke of York title, honors amid Jeffrey Epstein developments

The United Kingdom's Prince Andrew said he will give up his Duke of York title and honors amid new questions over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender with whom he had a friendship. 

The prince, who is King Charles' 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," NBC News reported.

He said the decision was taken "in discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family," 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," he also said.

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

Later, Andrew paid a substantial sum to the late Epstein abuse survivor Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that he sexually abused her when she was 17. He has repeatedly denied the allegation.

In a posthumous memoir by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre set to be released in the coming day, she gives an expanded account about her long-standing claims to have been sexually trafficked by Epstein to billionaires, politicians and with Andrew when she was 17, acccording to CBS News.