Residents of a serene London street are puzzled by a royal enigma: why did the usually private Prince Harry make rounds knocking at their doors?

Even more intriguing, who was the Duke of Sussex trying to find? Last month, a doorbell camera recorded him dressed in a suit, phone pressed to his ear, outside a stranger’s home.

This occurred the same week he appeared in court in London, asserting that his safety depended on having armed UK police protection. Yet, he was seen visiting houses on both ends of the street.

The Mail on Sunday has discovered that Harry, 40, appears to have been looking for John and Georgina Vaughan, thought to be old friends.

Property investor Mr Vaughan, in his mid 40s, comes from a long-established aristocratic family who have owned Courtfield Estate, Herefordshire since the 16th Century. Mr Vaughan’s wife Georgina is an artist.

Unfortunately while the couple own the house they weren’t in at the time of Harry’s visit – as they now rent it to a Spanish family.

One resident said they thought Harry ‘was trying to remember either the parents or his friend who lived at the top of the road’, adding: ‘The people he knew have long gone and moved elsewhere.

‘I think he got the numbers muddled up. I wondered what he was doing wandering around our street. 

‘If he’d knocked on my door, I would have invited him in and said, ‘I can give you all the information you need’. But he didn’t knock on my door, and I just feel very sorry for him.’

The resident then added another clue. ‘A pub run by a friend of his is close by – I suppose he just walked from there to here.’

Another resident, John, said Harry’s door knocking was mentioned on the residents’ WhatsApp group.

‘He has been seen in the area before. He used to drink at a pub down the road from here,’ he said.

‘He was looking for a friend who used to live in this road and now they rent the house out to people from overseas. They’ve rented it out, they’ve moved away and that’s all I will say.’

Prince Harry’s mishap comes after it was revealed on Sunday that he had stayed at a friend’s home during his visit to the UK and had a Deliveroo sent to the front door. 

He had previously argued in the Court of Appeal that his life was ‘at stake’ in a hearing challenging the Home Secretary over a ruling to withdraw his right to police protection. 

He later lost his legal challenge over his UK security arrangements, after Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, ruled his ‘grievance’ had not ‘translated into a legal argument’ in his bid to appeal the decision. 

The Duke, who claimed to be the victim of an ‘establishment stitch-up’ which was rebuked in a statement from Buckingham palace, now has to foot the £1.5million in legal bill after losing the case.

Prince Harry feels he had been ‘singled out for’ unjustified, inferior treatment’ since he and his wife Meghan Markle stepped back as working royals five years ago, the trial previously heard. 

His barrister also argued that the removal of Met Police armed bodyguards when he is in the UK has left the royal’s life ‘at stake’. 

‘The conditions of my security were not based on threat, risk and impact, they were made based on my role – one that my wife and I wanted to maintain but was ultimately refused,’ he said.

He added: ‘This all comes from the same institutions that preyed upon my mother, that openly campaigned for the removal of our security, and continue to incite hatred towards me, my wife and even our children.’

Harry also claimed only he and the late Queen were on a par in terms of their security risk ‘scores’, as assessed by a Home Office quango.

‘I’ve been treated differently to everybody else that exists, I have been singled out,’ he said in a shocking interview with the BBC following the Court of Appeal ruling.

But Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls said in his ruling last week in London that Ravec’s decision ‘were taken as an understandable, and perhaps predictable, reaction to the claimant having stepped back from royal duties and having left the UK to live principally overseas’.

‘These were powerful and moving arguments and that it was plain the Duke of Sussex felt badly treated by the system’, he said: ‘But I concluded, having studied the detail, I could not say that the Duke’s sense of grievance translated into a legal argument to challenge RAVEC’s decision’.

Sir Geoffrey said Harry ‘makes the mistake of confusing superficial analogies’ when comparing himself with other VIPs which had ‘added nothing’ to the legal question.

He added: ‘My conclusion was that the Duke of Sussex’s appeal would be dismissed’.

It means that for now, armed police bodyguards, paid for by the British taxpayer, will not be automatically reinstated for him, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet when they are in the UK.

Following the ruling, Prince Harry revealed in a bombshell BBC interview that he wanted to reconcile with the royals, while alleging his father was not currently speaking to him. 

But, the Duke of Sussex faced criticism for sparking speculation surrounding his father, King Charles III’s health, after he said he ‘didn’t know much longer’ the 76-year-old monarch had left to live. 

‘There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,’ he said: ‘Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things but… there’s no point in continuing to fight anymore.’

He continued: ‘Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has, he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff. It would be nice to reconcile.’

It comes after the King recently opened up in a message to fellow cancer sufferers as he invited them to Buckingham Palace in April to recognise the incredible work of community-based cancer organisations.

His Majesty, who is still undergoing regular treatments as someone ‘living with cancer’, previously described the moment of being informed of having the disease as ‘daunting and ‘frightening’.

Frustration grew towards Harry after his shock interview, as former press secretary to the late Queen, Alisa Anderson branded his comments about the King’s health ‘unhelpful’ amid continued treatment for an unspecified cancer.

Commenting that the royal family would be ‘raising their eyes heavenwards’ she told Sky News: ‘That’s going to cause real concern and more speculation in the media and the wider public about what his diagnosis is, which is incredibly unhelpful going forward.’

‘What you don’t want to do is have your private life played out in the media. So if you truly want reconciliation, you’ll do it in private, not in a BBC News interview.’

Former BBC royal correspondent, Jennie Bond, believed the Prince may have gone ‘too far’ and ‘invaded his father’s privacy’ by discussing his health during the interview

 ‘I suspect that Harry said more than he had perhaps intended because he was consumed with anger that the court decision had gone against him,’ she added.

‘When the court ruling didn’t go his way, he was, in his own words ‘gutted and devastated’.

‘And he was clearly seething with fury. And that is rarely the best time to air your thoughts.’

She added that she thinks Harry has now lost the support of the ‘majority of the British public’, following his comments about his father. 

It also comes amid claims from an insider that King Charles III hoped to reconcile with his estranged son before the interview aired, but their reunion would be dependent on Harry’s reaction to his legal loss.

An insider told The Sun before the interview was broadcast: ‘But there is now a chance for his son to move forwards rather than dwell on past grievances. 

‘From his father’s perspective, the door has been shut by necessity while this painful issue played out through the proper judicial channels — but it has not been locked forever, nor the key thrown away.’

However the monarch was said to be upset and frustrated with his son, due to the pressure he had put on taxpayers, the insider claimed, whilst he was also annoyed by suggestions from Harry’s supporters that ‘he doesn’t care about [The Duke’s] family’.

They also alleged to the publication that controversy surrounding the security legal case as well as Harry’s decisions in recent years had only worsened the family situation.

They added: ‘The King has always considered this was an issue for His Government and courts to resolve and that for him to intervene in any way would be constitutionally improper.

‘What has frustrated and upset him on a more personal level is the Duke’s failure to respect this principle — and for his supporters to suggest that somehow his father doesn’t care about his family, or should step in, click his fingers, and demand a form of protection that the leading national experts on protection may or may not consider necessary on any given visit.’

Meanwhile, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were spotted dancing the night away at the fifth night of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour in California yesterday in a series of sweet behind-the-scenes snaps.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were among thousands of fans who crowded into the SoFi Stadium yesterday as the artist performed her last show in Los Angeles before heading to Chicago.

Afterwards, Beyoncé shared a photograph of the royals on her website, capturing the grinning couple as they cosied up inside the luxurious VIP lounge to watch the Crazy in Love singer perform.

The Duchess of Sussex also took to her own Instagram, to share a glimpse to her and Prince Harry’s night on the town among the crowds of adoring Beyhive fans, with the Duke planting a kiss on her cheek during the show.

Meghan shared a series of smiley snaps of herself, Harry and friends, sporting cowboy hats, in keeping with the tour’s theme, as they swayed to various hits from the Cowboy Carter album. 

Another short video showed the Duchess appear emotional while she cheers on the superstar songstress as she sings her hit song 16 carriages, while sitting on a floating American-style car.

Alongside the series of jubilant photos, she penned: ‘About last night… Thank you Beyonce and team for an amazing concert (and a very fun date night) All love.’