We admit it: Peets was a bad choice. When grabbingacappuccinowith celebrity interior designer Michael Smith theman responsible for the Ovals 2010 makeover, the 2008 redo of the private quarters of the White House, and the placesCindy Crawford,Rupert Murdoch, and Michelle Pfeiffer call home one does not suggest the neighborhood coffee shop.

Come to the Hay Adams, Smith sayson a recent Monday morning.Hes in town for the next 24 hours and then its off to New York, then maybe back to his home base in Los Angeles, and finallyto Madrid, where Smith lives 10 days out of the month with his partner,James Costos,theUnited States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

We caught up with Smith to chat about his famous clients (well, we chatted, he nodded) and how being the consort of an ambassador is akin to having a double identity. Comparisons to superman happened.

Okay, where do you actually live? Like where does your mail go?

I have to think about it. Hmm, where doI live? Well, I say I live in L.A. because my dogs are in L.A. I kind of live a lot on planes. Now, I know all the flight attendants.I just invited these two amazing flight attendants withAmerican Airlines tothe embassy.

That sounds interesting.

Theyre best friends and so senior that they get to fly the Europeanroutes, including Madrid. So, I said, Hey, come to the embassy. I think they thought I was completely like not for real. But they came and they were super excited. But what a sweet American story.

Whatsyourdouble life like as the partner of an ambassador?

Myactual translation is consort of the American ambassador, which is kind of hilarious. Look, Spain hashad marriage equality since 2005, so all the growing pains of that have been worked out. If I had never given a dinner before then yes maybe it would be a stretch. But the reality is thats something Ive always found very relaxing and fun. In L.A. I give probably two or three dinners a week.Thats an easy template to apply to an embassy.

Ambassador James Costos (L) and partnerMichael Smith (R) during the annual Foreign Ambassadors reception at the Royal Palace on January 21, 2015 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

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Reliable Source: 5 Minutes with celebrity interior designer Michael Smith

A Melbourne man who strangled his partner with a dog leash and continued talking to the body for days before he was caught has been jailed for 18 years.

Michael O'Neill admitted hitting Stuart Rattle, a prominent interior designer, over the head with a saucepan before strangling him at their South Yarra home in December 2013.

He then travelled to the couple's farm in Daylesford for the weekend and continued to socialise as normal, before returning to Melbourne and setting their home on fire.

The court heard O'Neill snapped when Mr Rattle called him a "frigid bitch" after his sexual advances were denied.

O'Neill went to the kitchen to make breakfast and returned to the bedroom with a pan when Mr Rattle continued to taunt him.

"You had a pan in your hand [and] he again called you a frigid bitch. This caused you to snap and hit him on the head with a pan," Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said in sentencing.

"While he was dazed, you picked up a dog lead from the floor and strangled him.

"As you were strangling him Mr Rattle said 'Michael, don't do this'."

O'Neill put his partner's body in a bag because he knew Mr Rattle hated mess, the court heard.

He later travelled to the couple's farm in Daylesford, telling friends his partner was unwell.

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Stuart Rattle murder: Partner who strangled prominent interior designer with dog leash jailed for 18 years

The long-term partner of well-known Daylesford interior designer Stuart Rattle, has been sentenced to 18 years jail, for murder.

The court heard 48-year-old Michael Anthony O'Neill snapped in the heat of the moment and bludgeoned Mr Rattle with a fry pan, after an argument.

He then strangled him with a dog leash.

O'Neill then made his partner a cup of tea and acted as if nothing happened.

O'Neill spent five days pretending everything was normal, telling friends and co-workers Rattle was feeling unwell, before he set fire to their Melbourne apartment.

Victorian Supreme Court judge Elizabeth Hollingworth said O'Neill had trouble coming to terms with the fact he had killed the man he loved.

"There's plenty of evidence that you are devastated by what you have done," Justice Hollingworth said.

O'Neill admitted killing Rattle after police found inconsistencies with his claim that Mr Rattle died in the house fire.

He will serve a minimum of 13 years behind bars, before he is eligible for parole.

Mr Rattle was well-known in the Daylesford area for his beautiful gardens on his 35-hectare property, Musk Farm.

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Man sentenced over partner's murder

Feb. 11, 2015, 1:22 p.m.

THE former Terang man who murdered well-known Daylesford interior designer Stuart Rattle has been jailed for 18 years.

Former Terang man Michael O'Neill (left) has been jailed 18 years for murdering Stuart Rattle (right).

THE former Terang man who murdered well-known Daylesford interior designer Stuart Rattle has been jailed for 18 years.

Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said on Wednesday that Michael O'Neill, known as 'The Talented Mr Ripley' because of the way he constantly lied, had been in a "fragile psychological state" when he killed his partner of 16 years.

Justice Hollingworth accepted O'Neill, who stood in the dock with his head bowed as he was being sentenced, had murdered Mr Rattle in the heat of the moment without any forethought after an argument.

In sentencing O'Neill to 18 years' jail with a non-parole period of 13 years, the judge said Mr Rattle had often called him lazy, a parasite and threatened to send him back to where he came from.

Justice Hollingworth said Mr Rattle treated O'Neill as an office boy and not his partner but his behaviour in no way justified his murder.

"I accept you are genuinely remorseful for what you have done. There is plenty if evidence that you are devastated," the judge told O'Neill.

O'Neill, 48, who suffers from a dependent personality disorder, hit Mr Rattle over the head with a saucepan at the couple's South Yarra apartment at 6am on December 4, 2013, before strangling him with a dog lead as he begged for his life.

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Former Terang man jailed 18 years for murder

A man is set to be sentenced for the murder of his interior designer partner Stuart Rattle.

The family of a man murdered by the lover they comforted after his death have had their grief compounded by the sentence he's received.

Michael Anthony O'Neill maintained a charade that Stuart Rattle was ill in bed for five days, and even made him cups of tea, after he bludgeoned and strangled his partner with a dog leash.

Victorian Supreme Court judge Elizabeth Hollingworth on Wednesday jailed O'Neill for 18 years - with a minimum of 13 - for murdering Mr Rattle then later setting their apartment on fire.

O'Neill, 48, originally claimed his business partner and lover had died in the fire but confessed to the killing after police found holes in his story.

Mr Rattle's family were "shattered" by the jail term on Wednesday.

"Stuart was at the peak of his career, his brilliance was an inspiration to many," his sister, Katrina Lewin, said outside the court.

She said he was a talented, charming and generous man whom they miss every day.

"We thought coming into this today that the sentence would never be enough to compensate adequately to represent Stuart's life," Mrs Lewin said outside court.

"It's a waste of a beautiful life."

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Man sentenced for murdering partner

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