Madeleine McCann: Gerry McCann Talks With Vanity Fair
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MIRROR front page: “MADELEINE: THE BIG INTERVIEW”
“Our regret”
“GERRY: I wish we have never gone to the tapas bar”
“KATE: I wish I’d seen the stranger watching us”
“READ THEIR HEARTBREAKING WORDS INSIDE”
Voyeurs, campaigners, police and handwringers come see the pain, the suffering the agony. Prepare to be heartbroken!
“Riddled with guilt, the distraught” Gerry will tell all to the Mirror. Well, not to the Mirror, rather to Vanity Fair magazine. Journalist Judy Bachrach spoke with Gerry in October near the family home in Rothley, Leicestershire
And the interview is not with Gerry and Kate. Only Gerry McCann was interviewed, says the Mail. Kate McCann’s words come via friends and family
Pages 4 and 5: “I WISH”.
It reads very much like a prayer, or a camping speech by Barack Obama. Says Gerry McCann:
“I wish I hadn’t gone to the tapas bar.
“I wish I’d have stayed in the apartment that night
“I wish I’d stayed in the room when I checked on her five minutes longer”
A wish…
Says Gerry McCann: “”At the time we did it, it was not irresponsible. Of course we feel guilty about not having been there and that is just something we have to deal with for the rest of our lives. You are not asking anything we don’t think about on a daily basis. We live this 24 hours a day”
Gerry says his world went “all black, with maybe tiny points of light” in the days after Madeleine vanished. “We can’t cry our eyes out every day because that’s not helping. So after three days I picked myself up…quicker than Kate could. Grief washes over you. It’s like a big wave, mostly I was able to beat it back”
And the Madeleine ‘Look into my eyes’ campaign? Says Gerry: “We thought it was possible this could hurt her. Her abductor might do something to her eye. But in marketing terms it was a good ploy”
THE SUN: “Life’s bleak but I cling to hope”
Says Gerry McCann: “People can support you in your darkest hours and in our case the darkest hour was of course when Madeleine went missing. Now it is just bleak”
In next month’s Vanity Fair: “The interview with Gerry came as it emerged GORDON BROWN has snubbed the McCanns’ request for a meeting; furious Kate EXPLODED when cops first told her she was a suspect; and family spokesman Clarence Mitchell has given a university SPEECH on the topic Missing Maddie McCann — the perfect PR campaign
“A pal of the McCanns said Kate, 39, believes the family were STALKED by Maddie’s kidnapper in the days before she went missing”. WOW
COUPLE hit back on film. Says Clarence Mitchell, the spokesperson: “It is not us being greedy. It is us being needy“
DAILY MAIL: “It’s all my fault, admits Maddie’s father”
Well, not quite. Gerry McCann is making no confession. He maintains that the fault lies with a kidnapper. Says the Mail: “Gerry McCann is tortured by guilt that Madeleine’s disappearance is his fault”
Will he tell all? Mr McCann tells Vanity Fair’s Judy Bachrach: “I can’t talk to you about the details of what happened. I live under threat from the Portuguese - if I do talk - of two years’ imprisonment”
“THIRD POLICE SUSPECT BREAKS HIS SILENCE” – Says Robert Murat to Vanity Fair: “All I can say is that I am innocent”
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE - MOTHER IS SHUNNED BY PRIEST”
Page 9: “KATE’S SCREAMS AS POLICE TOLD HER: YOU’RE A SUSPECT – KATE McCann screamed when told by police that she was a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, it emerged yesterday. Opening the door of her rented villa to a Portuguese officer the family had come to know, Kate, 39, shouted: ‘Do you honestly believe that I would murder my own child?’”
Gerry McCann is a “39-year-old cardiologist”. Facts!
On the speculation: “Gerry says bitterly: ‘Yes, yes, I know. Kate killed her in a frenzy, Madeleine was sedated by us, she fell down the stairs – in which case you would have thought they’d have found her body. I’ve heard all of that. There are a huge number of theories in the media. But what I want to know is, who told them all that?’”
DAILY STAR: “Anguished and painfully thin, his wife Kate was too upset to answer even a single question during the interview with glossy US magazine Vanity Fair. Gerry revealed in the 7,500-word magazine article he had to be coaxed by a counsellor into talking publicly about his daughter in the days after she disappeared”
DAILY RECORD: “Maddie’s Dad: Slim Chance Of Getting Her Back”
“Distraught Gerry McCann has admitted the chances of him seeing his missing daughter Madeleine again are ‘slim’”
VANITY FAIR: “Unanswered Prayers”
“After three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared on a family vacation in Portugal, her parents pursued a high-stakes strategy: media saturation. It succeeded beyond their wildest imaginings—winning the aid of everyone from J. K. Rowling to the Pope—and failed miserably. Getting the first in-depth interview with Gerry McCann since he and his wife, Kate, were declared suspects, the author re-traces their footsteps to their daughter’s empty bed”
And then a policeman appeared. His name Ricardo. “Because for months they used to have regular weekly meetings with the Portuguese police, and then they stopped,” recalls Gerry’s older sister Trish Cameron
“Do you have something to tell us?” Ricardo asked.
“No,” Kate replied. “Do you have something to tell us?”
“He nodded. “Yes. You are being made arguidos”…
Eight months of talking - read it all…
Posted: 10th, January 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,344) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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January 10th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
funny
theres quite alot of men on here feeling sorry for kate today
January 10th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I actually tend to excluse Kate, who I suspect is a victim of all this - even though she might have been the perpetrator.
i’m sort of coming round to that view.she seems to have a lot of problems.
may even be that she insisted on the priest and that even with the control gerry has she said it’s either that or we own up.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
410 chenier
didn’t he balls that one up recently too
i remember mi6 bods had to be sent home from there because they were bribing the taleban
carry on up the khyber
true fun
January 10th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
438 Peter O
Interesting. The 5 minute window of opportunity closed by Gerry.
But if he had waited 5 minutes and then left, it would have made no difference, if the abduction story were true. Tanner wouldnt have seen cartoon man. Gerry would have gone back to Tapas Bar.
Abductor would have done his foul deed unsighted.
So it is indeed a very interesting thing to say. We need to remember it, it may be relevant later!
January 10th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
432
dcb
Five minutes was the “teeny” window of opportunity referred to by KMC on Panorama.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
The Daily Mail comments barometer stands thus:
Anti 78
Pro 20
Neither 4
Total 102
The utterly crass “good marketing ploy” seems to have provoked several of the posters. Do we thank Clarrie or Gerry for this?
I cannot believe this is actually cunning PR. If you insist on speaking with your feet in your mouth, you certainly need a spin doctor to try to limit the damage.
The mind boggles…
January 10th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
437 Matt. Says: January 10th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
426…Peter O
“””Clarence Mitchell, the family’s spokesman, said Mr McCann had not been paid by
Vanity Fair and had instead requested donations to the fund in return for cooperation
with future projects.”””””
May give a clue re updates and date/time of publication.
++++++++++++
Indeed… which is why it would be very interesting to be able to follow the flow of the money….. Not that I think we’ll be able to find out anything about that for a long time, if ever.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
431…dcb
He must know of the old song…”Only 5 minutes more, only 5 minutes more”.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Brandon
That’s Matthew 6:3.
I think all Christians know it - except the McCanns - it means don’t do something to look good when it’s given publicity.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
427…Ian
I wasn’t disagreeing with Karen’s main points, Ian.
Was just indicating that it could be possible to resort to both attitudes.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
432 hannasus
As someone posted here, children and childcare is ‘iconic’ and not real, in the UK.
Little ones are not looked after properly by many yet all shout loud when something goes wrong.
The media is not shouting much about the mcCanns child neglect because those in the media are usually farming their kids out themselves…they all probably have done or would do what the McCanns did.
Im sure thats what is behind the medias odd approach and its not just down to threats of litigation.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
431 dcb Says: January 10th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
“I wish I’d stayed in the room when I checked on her five minutes longer.”
Why would he just say 5 minutes?
+++++++++++++++++
Presumably because according to Jane Tanner the evil predator that had been watching the McCann’s all week, left carrying Madeleine circa five minutes after Gerry left. i.e. Had Gerry still been in the room he’d have been able to say.. “oh hello o’b………”? Perhaps, allegedly, just my opinion/speculation.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
426…Peter O
“”"Clarence Mitchell, the family’s spokesman, said Mr McCann had not been paid by
Vanity Fair and had instead requested donations to the fund in return for cooperation
with future projects.”"”"”
May give a clue re updates and date/time of publication.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
64
Will Says:
January 10th, 2008 at 9:45 am
60 Karen
Think you have something there. After the tie-up with Kate Moss do you think we will see the McCann collection at TopMan?
————————————————————————————————————————————-
Never. The First Lady of Croydon would never sink so low.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
425 rosemary
could be, but I find the account of that phone call and what was found in the barn to be too detailed to be an invention by the police or the media.
and I also find that the McCanns would not intentionally start creating diversion events that would attract more questions from police.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
“falling from a great height” not eye.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
426 Peter O
As usual you have hit target.
There is something very peculiar going on here. The movie references and the release ot the press today and yeterday…Clarence in a spin - people posting here how clever Clarence is to release the movie stuff on the same day as the resignations…the incestuous replacements for the directors….
January 10th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
You know how the northern hemisphere consists a lot of nanny states.
With the exception of Australia and New Zealand the southern hemisphere does not even know how to spell namnnie.
I have just purchased a book for my youngest son who should have incarnated into a Khoi San tribe with his wild nature spirit.
It is called “The Dangerous Book for Boys”.
It is brilliant, it talks about how in British schools, making paper planes is not officially allowed. God knows it could take someone’e eye out.
And then I read about an ancient row of pear trees that were to be taken down because an unripe pear falling from a great eye, could give someone a nasty bonk on the head.
Heaven forbid if you child falls down at school and hurts herself and all she wants is to be hugged, but we can’t allow that because then the little ones can be hugged by anyone and then they won’t be safe.
BUT MADELEINE WAS LEFT ALONE WITH HER TWO SIBLINGS EVERY NIGHT OF A HOLIDAY. A TIME THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE TIME OF HER LIFE. SHE IS DEAD, HER PARENTS HAVE BEEN MORE THAN THE IMPLICATED AND THE SAME CRAP HAS BEEN SPUN.
Madeeline was not made safe - and the worst is that those who betrayed her are the masters of the helm of British manipulation.
They are still not mentioning anything about the blood being hers.
Instead they are all giving Gerry a chance to say what he could have said months ago.
When we all looking so readily for some sign of accountability and grief.
The fact that this childs blood has been found should be everywhere, it should be coming from the rooftops.
The press are not going to print.
We are deeper in the maze then we think.
I must apologise posters for my always looking outwards. It is just my tendency.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
“I wish I’d stayed in the room when I checked on her five minutes longer.”
Why would he just say 5 minutes?
January 10th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Ian
An old catholic saying my mother used to say
“Dont let your left hand know what your right hand is doing!”
I agree I hate those things
January 10th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Ian - 420
What a marvellous analogy you have found to illustrate some of the arguments that pro mccanns often use. Have you any evidence that Santa does not exist?
This is quite the same question that the pro mccanners have been asking from the investigators about the abductor. Have you any evidence that there’s been no abduction?
Well… hummm…. quite simply…. NO! there is no hard evidence that there was no abduction because quite simply there was no abduction…
January 10th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
414 Joanie Says: January 10th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
406 Matt
I always thought catholics were like everyone else.
++++++++++++++
Good heavens no! We have much more guilt than everyone else!
January 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
423 Matt
Karens right though isnt she!
Personally I have always cringed at these ‘fun runs’ and other ‘fund raising’ events. People could just quietly donate - yet they always have to make a big fuss and say ‘look at me I care’.
I know many people have good hearts and dont do it for that reason, but it still makes me cringe.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Another interesting quote from the Vanity Fair article:
“By late December it emerged that three other witnesses claimed to have seen Murat near the McCanns’ villa apartment the night of the abduction.”
This surely implies that while the interview may have been given in October, the article itself has been updated to encompass recent “events”? Given that it seems unlikely that the final article could have been published without “input” from Team McCann it makes the reference elsewhere in the article “interesting”?
Is this a further pointer to the movie/docu-drama/money spinning thing been known about for some while and becoming the cause of some friction between the ex directors of the Limited Company known colloquially as “The Fund”?
And no, the article doesn’t appear to question the veracity of the alleged sightings.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Perhaps the phone-call from the shed was a red herring?
January 10th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Joanie
Apparently not. Apparently we’ve all been brainwashed to the extent that none of our actions or emotions are comprehensible without a working knowledge of the catechism.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
418…Karen
“”"Empathising with someone’s grief and torment is actually just as enjoyable as slagging them off for being idiots (but you can’t do both at the same time).”"”"”
A Schizophrenic might have a stab at confounding that belief.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
401,
Ian
I think the puppy story was his way of saying never leave your children out of sight/earshot.
Does anyone know whether the madeleinemccann.co.uk website is “official”? It went up on 9th May.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Joanie 405
Under road works in PDL would of course contradict the use of the car to dispose of her body. They have also been thoroughly searched the days following her disappearance.
Can’t Say no 383
The prospect of disposing of the body in the sea is also less plausible if we are to assume that Gerry’s phone call from the abandoned shed to O’Brian was made some 25 Km inland from the resort. Although one could contemplate that the body was initially removed from PDL hid in the barn, and then collected from the barn and disposed of in the sea. But this beggers the question… what would Gerry be doing in that barn (inland) some 25 Km from the resort? He was driving up to Lisbon to catch a flight to Morocco (when he could have easily have flown from Faro airport - he preferred to drive almost 3 hours north to catch that flight from Lisbon). He had a stop in the abandoned barn and called O’Brian.
The route all the way to Lisbon is inland and a motorway therefore it offers little chance to pull out next to the road and dispose of a dead body (and also higher risk).
If indeed he was there, it is unlikely that Gerry was in that barn to collect Madeleine’s body. It’s much more likely that he was there to drop her body or most likely to destroy it with the aid of chemical substances. Early that afternoon they may have collected her body from another location close to PDL (they were in Church that same morning according to his blog).
January 10th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
414 Joanie
Well, not quite like ‘anyone’ else.
I dont believe in an all powerful triumverate for example - I leave that to the fantasists!
No evidence you see. Blind faith has always been a problem to me, when being told by other human beings that I have to believe in things through ‘blind faith’ I always feel a little ‘uncomfortable’.
After all, I believed in Santa and he turned out to be a marketting ploy.