Britain’s Prince Andrew on Friday relinquished his title of Duke of York and other royal honors after growing scrutiny over his ties to late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"I will ... no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me," Andrew said in a statement, adding that while he denied all allegations, "the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family."
Andrew told Jeffrey Epstein, "we are in this together" in an email three months after he said he had stopped contact with the pedophile financier, according to British newspaper reports.
The Sun On Sunday and Mail On Sunday report that the email was sent on Feb. 28, 2011 - the day after the well-known photograph of the duke and Virginia Giuffre was published.
Andrew told the public broadcaster BBC's Newsnight program that he broke off his friendship with Epstein in December 2010.
According to the papers, Andrew wrote in the message: "I'm just as concerned for you! Don't worry about me!
"It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.
"Otherwise keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!!!!"
He is said to have signed off with "A, HRH The Duke of York, KG."
Andrew stepped away from his public role in 2019 amid the furore over his friendship with convicted billionaire pedophile Epstein.
He later paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein as a teenager and whom Andrew claimed never to have met.
The duke has always denied any wrongdoing.
In January this year, a section of the email emerged in court documents, which at the time was reported to be from a "royal family member."
The claim was made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in court documents for a legal battle against former Barclays Bank chief executive Jes Staley.
Staley was appealing against a finding by the watchdog that he gave a misleading account of the nature of his relationship with Epstein, and denies doing so.
In an amended statement of the case, the FCA said that features of the relationship between Epstein and Staley showed they were "close," and that emails sent between the pair were "inconsistent with a business relationship."
These included Epstein making "numerous introductions and recommendations for Mr Staley," including with the royal family member, and calling each other "family" in some emails.
The FCA said: "On 15 June 2010, Mr Epstein emailed a member of the British Royal Family, noting: 'if you can find time to show jes around with vera that would be fun, he told me he ran into you tonight.'
The royal family member replied asking who Vera was and noting that he had seen Jes in Harry's Bar [in London] and would contact him in the morning.
"Mr Epstein replied on 15 June 2010 noting that Vera was 'my future ex wife, i know jes and she would love to see home'.
"The royal family member replied on the same date that he was having 'dinner with Jes tomorrow evening'."
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, in the United States, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The death was ruled a suicide.
He was forced to quit public life after a calamitous 2019 interview in which he claimed to have no memory of meeting Giuffre and defended his friendship with convicted pedophile Epstein, who was found hanged in prison in 2019.
