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被称为全英国最显赫的大街当属实至名归。街边就是肯辛顿宫(Kensington Palace)：它曾是威尔士王妃戴安娜(Diana, Princess of Wales)的寝宫，如今则是其大儿子、威廉王子(Prince William)以及各色皇室贵胄的居住地。据称好几位亿万富豪也在此拥有豪华府邸——其中就包括切尔西足球队老板、俄国富豪阿布拉莫维奇(Roman Abramovich)以及印度钢铁大王拉克希米•米塔尔(Lakshmi Mittal)。好多豪宅上飘扬的各色国旗表明此处是大使的府邸云集之地。这儿也是日本驻英国大使官邸所在地（Kensington Palace Gardens街23号）。我在一个阳光明媚的盛夏下午采访了日本驻英国大使。