Kensington Palace Gardens has a good claim to be the most exclusive road in Britain. It runs alongside the palace that was once home to Diana, Princess of Wales, and is now the residence of her son, Prince William, and assorted other royals. Several billionaires are reputed to own mansions on the street — including Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club and Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel tycoon. National flags flutter from many of the other houses to signal that they are ambassadorial residences. It is the Japanese ambassador — who resides at number 23 — who I am visiting on a bright summer’s afternoon.
Kensington Palace Gardens被稱為全英國最顯赫的大街當屬實至名歸。街邊就是肯辛頓宮(Kensington Palace)：它曾是威爾士王妃戴安娜(Diana, Princess of Wales)的寢宮，如今則是其大兒子、威廉王子(Prince William)以及各色皇室貴胄的居住地。據稱好幾位億萬富豪也在此擁有豪華府邸——其中就包括切爾西足球隊老板、俄國富豪阿布拉莫維奇(Roman Abramovich)以及印度鋼鐵大王拉克希米?米塔爾(Lakshmi Mittal)。好多豪宅上飄揚的各色國旗表明此處是大使的府邸云集之地。這兒也是日本駐英國大使官邸所在地（Kensington Palace Gardens街23號）。我在一個陽光明媚的盛夏下午采訪了日本駐英國大使。