Madeleine McCann: McCann Incorporated, McCann Ink And Going Back To Portugal
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
SUNDAY MIRROR: “Tapas 7 in despair at all the ‘lies’”
They say they are also called the Tapas Nine? And the Sangria Seven
“The Tapas Seven are “in meltdown” over the failure of Portuguese police to make any meaningful progress in the hunt for Madeleine”
“IT’S OUR D-DAY - McCanns return to Portugal - EXCLUSIVE Kate and Gerry set date in April for Algarve showdown They’ll tell cops: show your evidence or clear us for good”. Like that D-Day back on November?
“Despairing Kate and Gerry McCann are planning to return to Portugal for a face-to-face showdown with police who think they killed their daughter Madeleine”
They are going back. Now..?
Well, not exactly: “A close friend said the the couple were likely to go back after their ‘D-Day’ of April 11, when their three-month extension is up, and added: ‘They feel they’ve waited long enough with this cloud of suspicion hanging over them. They know their return would be very high-profile. They believe investigators do not have the evidence against them to bring charges, and their presence in Portugal would embarrass them. They’ve so far held off going back there, but they see it as their trump card”
They will go back once they have been allowed to see the police first on them
Says the paper’s source: “They see April 11 as their D-day. They have decided to give the police reasonable time to clear them, or at least open the case files so they can see the evidence against them”
That’s good of them…
FIONA Philips, of GMTV writes: “Have a heart”. Yes, that Fiona Philips
“Unbelievably, every time I write about the McCanns I get messages saying, ‘I used to like you, until you started supporting the McCanns.’ Nice, eh? So I hope you’re happy now that Kate and Gerry have blamed themselves for Madeleine’s disappearance”
Happy?
“In a list of ‘if onlys’, Gerry said: ‘I wish I’d stayed in the apartment that night.’ Now, I expect more bile on praising them for considering making a documentary on the case. Surely you can’t tell me that there’s a parent out there who wouldn’t do anything possible to find their missing child?”
SUNDAY PEOPLE: “’We pray she’ll be at party for twins’”
“Brave Kate McCann is planning a huge birthday party for her twins - and dreams missing Maddie will be there too. Kate, 39, has vowed to go ahead with the bash for Sean and Amelie even though she is still waiting for cops to quiz her again. Mother-in-law Eileen said: ‘The party’s on and it will be an even bigger one if wee Madeleine is back. All we can do is hope and pray.’ Sean and Amelie turn three on February”
Touching stuff. Gerry McCann is a “heart specialist”
MAIL ON SUNDAY: “Madeleine: No film will be made unless she’s found - alive or dead”
“Kate and Gerry McCann have been told that the proposed documentary about their daughter’s disappearance can go ahead only if she is found – alive or dead.
A source says: “It was awkward to raise but there would need to be an ending – either Madeleine being found alive or a body being discovered. If this wasn’t the case, and there was a major development after filming and editing, it could render the documentary redundant”
Or the parents or some other person or persons are charged, perhaps?
THE OBSERVER: “A good week for … a bad week for …”
“A bad week for …
“Tradition – A Lib Dem MP called Lynne Featherstone has made a bid for the limelight by reporting the monarchy to the Equality Commission because it goes in for primogeniture”
“Marcus Agius The chairman of Barclay’s was the target of £10,000 fraud”
“Good Taste - Or indeed any taste at all. A London based agency which supplies celebrity doubles has employed a small girl to rent out as Madeleine McCann. 20 per cent”
It was a “good weeks for… Washing up”
“THE Maddie story is already a soap opera, so why the moral panic over a movie? - Don’t get me wrong - nobody wants to see Maddie: The Musical. However, needs must if the McCanns want to continue trying to find out what happened to their daughter and they do, despite the devastating expense (their somewhat unproductive detective agency alone costs £50,000 a month) and the increasingly shabby odds.”
Maddie: The Musical, eh..?
THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT: “Strange case of the detectives trying to trace Madeleine”
“After a week when commercials deals were more apparent than clues, we investigate the investigators”. Why not investigate the case?
“Just when the Madeleine McCann saga couldn’t get any more agonising, along came a raft of developments last week that began to achieve what you would hope would be impossible: turning a little missing girl into an industry – Madeleine Inc. Item: a London agency hawking around various small girls as Madeleine lookalikes. Item: US television bringing a team of psychics to bear on the disappearance as part of what they no doubt hoped would be a money-spinner of a show. Item: her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, exploring the possibility of selling the book and film rights to the case”
Madeleine became a brand long ago. Brand McCann…
“Madeleine Inc bring benefits to some, but not, so far, to the girl herself or her distraught parents”
Or Madeleine Ink – see the press
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Ron Liddle writes:
“So, get yourself ready for Maddie – The Movie (PG, until you fancy nipping out for something to eat). Kate and Gerry McCann’s press spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, has confirmed that the couple met with representatives from the US entertainment company IMG before Christmas and that while nothing was agreed, the meeting had been ‘positive’. A day later Gerry McCann hastily backtracked and said no, no, they weren’t planning a movie. Who to believe? And which British actors will Hollywood cast as the parents if there is a film? Sacha Baron Cohen and Catherine Tate? Am I bovvered? Look at my face – is it bovvered? And maybe Matt Lucas as the shady-looking Robert Murat? Norman Wisdom as the Portuguese chief of police?”
Madeleine McCann: Fiction, faction and a single unbearable fact
Posted: 13th, January 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,025) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
January 13th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
546
Pray For Little Soul
I dont disagree with the points you just made.
As to the point of ‘no negatives’ - I think there are two main reasons,
1. Anyone saying anything negative risks being dragged into the circus - posibly losing their job, if they are in the NHS - or being called as a negative character itness. If they were my friends I’d say nothing in public whatever I knew, however some people want to say nice things for their 5 minutes of fame.
2. Consultants hold an incredible grip on the NHS community - they close ranks tighter than a ducks arse and the rest of the world, especially people with money - hold them in very high esteem. GP’s too will have closed ranks. Dont forget, Kate has apparently told the PJ she was in contact with 6 cadavers (with her being a GP locum, this is very hard to believe!). Has anyone from the surgeries she covered stepped forward and commented either way on this claim? Nope!
January 13th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
520
Gloria Smudd Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Ian 513 Says
We also know that Gerry had made outrageous statements regarding being glad that he did not have to have the children with them at dinner (to say such a thing to a stranger beggers belief) and we also know that there was a great deal of discussion regarding the child care arrangements of the McCanns, seemingly prompted by the McCanns themselves - which is very odd and makes one consider the possible motives.
It may be that the McCanns needed to ensure that it was known they left their children - perhaps to ensure that the unlikely option of abduction by stranger was accepted - after all, if they had looked after their children sufficiently well, abduction would have been impossible - in fact, with the ‘5 minute window of opportunity’, it nearly is impossible.
——————————————-
It would be interesting to hear the loving parents explaining under court-room questioning how broadcasting the fact that their children were alone fell into under the umbrella of ‘responsible parenting’.
***********
Gloria Smudd,
I’ve read recently how the father announced to perfect strangers that they were leaving their children alone at night. It would be interesting to know (and it may well have been stated there as well, but I’l need to go back and check) IF he made these disclosures on any of the nights preceding the night of 3rd May. Because if he did, he’s just an absolute fool who invites crime by making such an announcement. But if he only mentioned it to others on the night of the 3rd, and ahead of her disappearance, it’s to get the message out there that abduction was indeed a possibility.
January 13th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
540
Ian Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
531 chenier
The words of the McCanns paid spokesman infer the McCanns are desperate to know what evidence the PJ are holding!
I suspect the PJ - under the new man who has not changed the direction of the investigation as the McCanns had hoped and that being despite the most thorough review - have a great deal more information than any ‘undercover investigators’!
Its interesting that the McCanns have not commented really on the fact that even a total root and branch review has not removed them as suspects.
——————————
I’m with you all the way on that one; they are desperate.
Now the Telegraph has reported:
‘At a meeting on Thursday, the Fund agreed to raise money for the fund, which currently sits at £600,000 but which faces running dry by late summer unless it receives a cash injection, by exploiting more media opportunities.’
It looks as if there was a flaming row with at least some of the directors over that. It’s difficult to see how they justify the media fundraising when they are simultaneously admitting that it is likely that Madeleine is dead.
After all, if Madeleine is dead, what do they need the money for?
Other than covering their own asses…
January 13th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
532 Ade
Maybe it should have been ‘filled by a face like a whaley’?
January 13th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
536 Peter O
During my mind’s more meandering moments, the abstract-Ade has a shiny red one (guitar of course) but no bum-pimples.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
541 Peter O
I think I saw it - didnt I comment? It was taken in the spirit I know it was intended!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Ian……..
I thought all young children had star chats for most things nowadays. Behaviour, homework, manners etc
It’s a recognised method promoted by Social Services and all childcare experts and is a far better way of teaching that a smack round the head.
It’s called postive reinforcement.
If anyone has had a child trying to clamber into their bed several times during the night every night for several weeks then anything that works is good.
IMO of course!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
513
Ian Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
502
An interesting post.
Personally I think the principle of listing the possibilities and addressing them is a good one, but the implementation is not robust or entirely valid.
Option 4 cannot be rejected on the apparent ’say so’ of friends of the McCanns as they will of course be biased and may not be honest - as to suggest that the McCanns were the type of people who did not take their responsibilities as seriously as they ought to would be to have decided that they did not want to be frioends with the McCanns anymore and to attract the interest of the press and the authorities!
Option 2 is naive in itself! We dont know if these people are good at their jobs or ‘cut out’ for them. Kate was not a GP until relatively recently (see GMC listing) and was only operating 2 days a week and in the relatively easy and disconnected job of locum. Gerry was trying to suplement his income in other ways - and seeking political position it would appear (his family have political connections and background).
We also do not actually know if it is true that they were neglectful, they may have been something even worse!
We also know that Gerry had made outrageous statements regarding being glad that he did not have to have the children with them at dinner (to say such a thing to a stranger beggers belief) and we also know that there was a great deal of discussion regarding the child care arrangements of the McCanns, seemingly prompted by the McCanns themselves - which is very odd and makes one consider the possible motives.
It may be that the McCanns needed to ensure that it was known they left their children - perhaps to ensure that the unlikely option of abduction by stranger was accepted - after all, if they had looked after their children sufficiently well, abduction would have been impossible - in fact, with the ‘5 minute window of opportunity’, it nearly is impossible. Accepting that some would say that it is impossible, especially if the blood is Madeleines (as it had been cleaned away).
In short, a good approach, but a little too much culling of ideas!
———————
Ian,
Of course i don’t accept that they were careful with their children just because their friends say so. Anything that would point to them having made similar ill-judged decisions would not be leaked to the press by their friends, except by a slip of the tongue. But has anyone in their community come forward with tales that indicate reason to consider they were not otherwise careful with their children? Anything from Social Services? I haven’t seen anything of the sort.
And ‘naivety’. I think, if anything, they are worldly wise. They might shield themselves with the veil of naivety when the occasion requires it, when faced with the unexplainable and having to resort to being ‘uninformed’.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
539 The McCanns should shut their mouths up, as should all their friends and their spokesman.
They are just trying to gain sympathy back now that most of the people have realised their game - to get the money flowing in - and it is clearly NOT to search for Madeleine - in my opinion.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
542 Ade Says: January 13th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
536 Peter O
do red arse-spots count?
++++++++++++++
Well, to satisfy sledgehammer’s definition of “evidence” we will require rather more than just your word I’m afraid!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
539
Ahh, well Kate didn’t comment on it directly. My point about relevant information remains, they aren’t celebrities, they are involved with a tragedy, this isn’t what Brad and Angelina are doing with their clan, during brief breaks from filming (knock on wood).
January 13th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
536 Peter O
do red arse-spots count?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Note to Ian
I called you a “numpty” yesterday, in jest I hasten to add. Sadly you had departed and missed my feeble attempt at humour.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
531 chenier
The words of the McCanns paid spokesman infer the McCanns are desperate to know what evidence the PJ are holding!
I suspect the PJ - under the new man who has not changed the direction of the investigation as the McCanns had hoped and that being despite the most thorough review - have a great deal more information than any ‘undercover investigators’!
Its interesting that the McCanns have not commented really on the fact that even a total root and branch review has not removed them as suspects.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
526
Cheryl, I do agree about the party. I think most people are talking about it because that is something we don’t really need to know. We also don’t need to know that she is personally planning it, it would be nice to know the twins are coping, simple as that (well, is she personally planning it? I read that quickly). I think people are just annoyed because she is choosing to talk about this, rather than helpful information that could be helpful to both her and her daughter (yes, even to the public to some degree, as that is where a lot of donations came from). The twins don’t need to be caught up anymore than they already are with posing for photos (only to have their faces blurred later), etc.
That being said, I do hope the twins have a party that is their own, and it doesn’t turn into some yellow and green party.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
537 chenier
but which one - i have seven
—————–
mods and Admin
bums or guitars?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
517
Ade Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
515 chenier
A sound idea, Ade.
Would you object if I gratuitously insult you so that I can acquire one?
please go ahead
i’m just an arse with a geetar, after all
fun all the way
—————————————————
Ok; your guitar sucks!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
521 Gloria Smudd Says: January 13th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
517 Ade
Yes, but it’s a shiny red one! (your guitar, not your arse)
++++++++++++++
How do you know that Ade’s arse isn’t a shiny red one?
Do you have any evidence for this statement or are you simply speculating?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
522 Note to responsible parents: Don’t leave your children alone in an unlocked apartment. If one of them goes AWOL, don’t claim shutters were jemmied and doors were locked then ‘amend’ the story to include that the patio doors were open.
Ade 523 You got hairy hands, I got hag-hands - fancy shaking?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Any report, any indication from anyone at all that they went to Chaplins?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
526 Cheryl
May I answer that?
I’d say that if the twins are to enjoy as normal a life as possible, without ’star chart’ training and ‘weak’ (being very generous there!) parenting, the current parents are not favourites to retain guardianship.
They need the love of normal parents - lets face it, they’d hardly miss their current parents as I doubt they even know which of the adults who looks after them are the actual parents - allegedly and in my opinion.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
530 Gloria Smudd
excellent fun
i reckon she’s in south devon ‘cos it’s gone very dark and tv reception has gone berserk…
and something is spooking the horses in the lower field
aaarrrrggghhhhh…
January 13th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
516
Ian Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
512 Chenier
I believe it was the night that the children were allegedly crying calling for their genetic father most of the night.
I expect the PJ have the evidence required to place them there (unless they used cash and wore masks).
For the purposes of explaining the night of the 3rd of May, it certainly seems likely that the ‘accidental death’ was there that night.
Admittedly there is as much evidence available to us of this as there is of abduction, none really - but that seems to have been accepted by the press and the friends of the McCanns and their supporters.
——————————————————————-
I’ve seen the reports on Forums of Madeleine allegedly crying for two hours on the night of 2 May, when it was also alleged that the parents were at Chaplins, not the Tapas bar.
But I can’t find anything in the press.
I would have thought that the US private investigator who went ‘undercover’ would have picked up on the Chaplins story.
He was certainly prepared to believe, on the evidence of his own enquiries, that all of the Tapas 9 had left their children alone for much lengthier periods of time than they had admitted to for most or all of the week.
If they hadn’t been in the Tapas bar at all on the night before Madeleine’s disappearance I would have thought that he would have been told that by the waiters etc.
After all, the waiters would have no reason to withhold that particular piece of information…
January 13th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
When Madeleine’s aunt was on telly
She filled up the screen with her belly,
So the camera moved back
But the screen still went crack
When filled by a face like a wellie
I’ll get me coat …
January 13th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
526 Cheryl
Just who should be ‘taken’ to a hospital, may I ask?
the fruit cake, of course
January 13th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
it’s hilarious
shouting his fat gob off in the tapas bar about leaving his kids home alone and he’s had suspicions that someone was stalking them.
what a plonker, rodders
January 13th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
520 Gloria Smudd
Indeed it would!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
41
lilith Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Soooo…Kate wants a HUGE party for those poor twins while their own “search team”(specialising in fraud) is supposedly carrying out a rape and murder investigation( kinda like the PJ!).
“They” need to “take” that woman …to a hospital
____________
The twins are what two years old? Life should not go on as much as normal for them because of the tragedy in the family? They should be forced to sit around and mourn with other members of the family their sister is missing? Those children have to be given a normal life as much as possible right now to keep them from being anymore emotionally affected by all the turmoil going on around them, they are too young to understand.
Just who should be ‘taken’ to a hospital, may I ask?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
514 Jolie
Qute right. But I suppose its not unusual for criminals to act in this way?
Its a bit like people saying, when defending other suspects in other cases, ‘they have always claimed there innocence’ as being proof they are innocent!
They will of course do anything they can to defend themsleves - more than they have done to actively find their daughter. I note that Jon Corner is off on the ‘cross border security and co-operation’ bandwagon - cheaper and simpler, surely, to lock the bloody door and stay in - or take your kids with you to dinner? Or is that making these poor parents take responsibility for their children?
Incidentally, whats the angle with the Daily Mirror contributor Fiona Phillips? I wonder if she follows the McCanns school of childcare?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
520
It was like being in the garden…one that is closed off from the street and where a child has to walk, in the dark, by a tempting pool. Luckily there is always a party of strangers in the garden!