London (CNN) -- Prince Andrew has said he will stand down as Britain's "special representative" for international trade and investment, after 10 years in the role.
"As the evolution of my role continues apace and in order to reflect the changes I have outlined, I have decided that the label I gave myself when I began this role of Special Representative has served its purpose and is no longer necessary to the work that I do today and, more importantly, in the future," he said in his 2011 annual review.
Prince Andrew has attracted controversy over the decade he has represented Britain's trade interests abroad.
In March he was criticized for his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a U.S. financier who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
And in leaked diplomatic documents published by WikiLeaks last year, the U.S. ambassador in the central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan, Tatiana Gfoeller, reportedly said that the prince, during a business lunch in 2008, was "astonishingly candid. The discussion at times verged on the rude (from the British side)."
The prince did not comment publicly on characterizations put forward in the leaked documents.
In 2008, Prince Andrew also prompted criticism with remarks made to the New York Times suggesting that the United States might have been better off had its leaders learned from the British experience with colonialism before venturing into Iraq.
In his annual review, which details his activities for the year ending March 31, Prince Andrew said he was writing "against the backdrop of the changing economic environment and business demands."
"I continue to develop my role in support of UK businesses, both at home and abroad. Business is coming to me with new issues that reflect the changing business and economic environment," he wrote.
"It is, as ever, necessary to evolve the role that I perform with Her Majesty's Government and business; resulting in a more diverse portfolio of activities that reflects these changes."
His trade envoy position was chiefly focused on attracting investors to Britain and helping British companies improve their prospects overseas.
According to the review, he carried out 619 engagements in the year from April 2010 to March 2011, of which over three-quarters were trade-related, and visited 15 countries.
As trade envoy, he worked for the government body UK Trade and Investment but did not receive a salary.
Also called the Duke of York, Prince Andrew is Queen Elizabeth's second son and the brother of Prince Charles, who is next in line to the throne.
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