Madeleine McCann: Gerry and Kate Have Had Enough
SAYS Madeleine McCann’s father Gerry: “In the first few weeks when I slipped into dark moments of despair I was finding it quite easy to emotionally switch a light back on, but I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to do that.
“More importantly I don’t want to do that any more. I want to be able to grieve and let those emotions out.”
In “Maddie: Exhausted parents put campaign on hold,” the News of the World listens as Gerry and Kate McCann explain their next move.
Says Kate: “I find when I am alone I feel a lot of anxiety. When I’m speaking to people it takes my mind off things. I’m not thinking, ‘Where is Madeleine, how is she feeling?’ It’s a distraction and it helps, but it’s time to step back from that.”
No Parents: no News
But without the parents around, what news of Madeleine is there? The tabloid press has focused all its energies on telling us about Kate and Gerry’s pain, their heartbreak, the fears.
Instead of news of the case, we have seen Gerry and Kate on the TV and papers, appealing to us for help in finding their daughter. While the McCanns appealed for all eyes to look out for their missing daughter, all eyes were on them.
The McCanns have become the story, unwelcome fame culminating in a BBC headline that, as Mick Hume noted, delivered the Lloyd-George-knew-my-father moment, “Pope meets Madeleine’s parents”.
But now with the McCanns taking a backwards step, allowing themselves to grieve for “our Maddie”, what will the tabloid press do?
Were not the McCanns destined to be those parents of that girl who went missing, still popping up in TV shows years from now as the faces of distraught parenthood?
“We have to ask ourselves whether this is a long-term campaign,” says Gerry. “We never wanted it to be one, we want her back as soon as possible.”
So that’s it. The police will continue to look for Madeleine McCann. She is still missing. The heat and light generated by the media feeding frenzy was for nought, at best a welcome distraction to the McCanns.
Still Looking
Madeleine’s face is not everywhere. Posters of Madeleine are not in every Mediterranean resort, at every airport departure gate. Anorak has yet to see anyone wearing a yellow ribbon. Did one of the Sun’s official yellow balloons land in your garden?
We hope Madeleine McCann is found. We hope her parents’ pain ends. But we are unchanged by events. Soap opera stories shifted. Celebrities, politicians and footballers offered help and displayed how much they cared. Parents hunted paedos. Empathy was all.
But Madeleine McCann is a story, one with a single thread. And now that has been broken…
Posted: 10th, June 2007 | In: Tabloids Comments (32) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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April 20th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
why did you think to leave children of that age alone. You of all people could afford some type of support, nannie etc.
I hope that you are innocent because I hope Maddie is still alive and well but you make me doubt this.
How can you leave your other children to travel the world, for what ever good causes, they are presious too.
I know Maddie trusted and loved you.
I wish you all the best but I mostly wish Maddie was with you
September 8th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
after following the madeline mccann case we have talked almost daily about it could they have given madeline something to make her sleep while they dined with friends is it possible she could have been overdosed anything could have happend she could have smothered ,vomited ,even strangled herself to us it all seems a possibllty maybe the d.n.a which they retreived will discover any of these things
July 6th, 2007 at 10:10 am
The Yellow Ribbon was NOT brought about as just a remembrance of Madeliene. The Yellow Ribbon was put into place as a symbol for ALL missing children across the world.
It is very sad that these cases happen, and I am extremely saddened that Madeliene has not been found. What is right or wrongly done doesn’t count. The fact is, there is another missing child out there, just 3 years old , who like Ben Needham may never be found. However, like all missing children, Madeliene should still be rightly remembered. My little girl is the same age as Maddy, and everytime I look at her, I think of Maddy and what she must be going through. I wander wether she is dead or alive, and how I would feel if it was mine.
YES, the parents where wrong for leaving the children in on their own. But fact is, it WAS not maddys fault. Another point is, I think it is really sad how the media get their oars in on these stories, and just because they take a while to solve or never get solved they back out. How do they expect us to solve these cases, when they just let them fade away?
It may sound abit dramatic, but have the police even botthered to check war torn areas such as iraq, and oil battling areas such as Nigeria? After all another 3 yr old was kidnapped and taken to Nigeria, and the people who have her are threating to kill her.
If you ask me, the world does not do enough for missing children.
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 am
As far as i have seen, i am the only one in the Bognor Regis area with Maddies poster in my car window, it has been there for about a month and i get laughed at somtimes for displaying it, saying “shes not in England, i say “do you know where she is then” they say “no but” i say “well shut the fuck up then” i have a 10yr old daughter and i can only imagine the pain of Mr & Mrs McCann, and god forbid anyone should have that happen to them, it is awful, and ridiculed for posters in my car windows is a small, tiny price to pay.
Baz.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
I hope there will be some news of Madeleine soon, I am praying she will be found. What her parents have done is amazing, travelling and spreading the message to the world to look for their daughter it is the best thing to do. Whoever has taken her will know the whole world is watching and it is only a matter of time before they are found!
June 13th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
What has so much debate produced? Where is the real debate on paedophilia? And if the McCann linekd to this: http://www.anorak.co.uk/news/tabloids/174211.html
June 13th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Joanne aka ………….. said :
” instead of calling the McCanns names on a forum”
Perhaps, Joanne, as you work on your good causes, to do them better, you should sign up for a reading course of some sort….
Exercise your brain, as you advise others..I didn’t and never have called the McCanns names…I was responding to Jan and Pixie Girl, stating my opinion.
Anorak, Suzanne, Anonymous and Jane, you made great sense.
June 13th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
It’s not a competition Scarlett.
The McCanns are highly deserving of wearing the ribbon - it’s a small yellow ribbon for gods sake that has become symbolic as it has gathered momentum!
If you are a bit disgruntled by this and feel the military guys are more deserving, then instead of calling the McCanns names on a forum, go and do something positive - set up your own foundation, raise awareness, pick a colour and pass around your ribbons.
The McCanns have worked tirelessly to maintain the publicity campaign.
What good cause do you work tirelessly at?
June 13th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
pixie girl Says:
soldiers fighting in the war chose to serve their country and are well paid for it.
Well paid???
As a mom of a son in the military reserves I beg to differ….
Percentage of married Guard members and reservists who report a loss of income over civilian jobs, as of May 2004: 55%
Percentage of married Guard members and reservists who report a decrease in pay of $1,000 a month or more, as of May 2004: 49%
Percentage of married Guard members and reservists who report a decrease in pay of $30,000 a year or more, as of May 2004: 15%
Percentage of National Guard members and reservists who’ve turned to military family support organizations for assistance, as of May 2004: 18%
Number of military families who’ve contacted USA Cares for emergency assistance since the war in Iraq began: 959
Amount of assistance arranged by USA Cares for military families since the war in Iraq began: $350,514
Those figures have risen substantially in the past 3 years.
Children taken from single parents in uniform when they are mobilized
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18506417/
Jan Says:
No need to wear a ribbon for anyone in a war.
Soldiers serve and die to protect all of us.
As the mom of a military reservist son, I strongly beg to differ with
the opinions cited and believe yellow ribbons for the military are
much more deserved than that for the McCanns.
June 13th, 2007 at 5:10 am
FREYA….LOL…you have me in tears I’m laughing so hard…………..thank you for that!
No need to wear a ribbon for anyone in a war. Soldiers know that they may die when they enlist. They’ve volunteered for that. Madeleine didn’t volunteer to be abducted and she wouldn’t have understood it if she did.
Elizabeth Smart was found 1 year after she was abducted from her bedroom in the US because her parents kept her face in the media…. DON’T STOP!!!!!
June 12th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Soldiers can be seen as patriotic yes, but well paid? and well provided for , what about the ones killed as a direct result of incomplete uniforms issued to them?
400 hundred children a week go missing, its the so called cynics who point this out, the ones who are pillioried for not gushing ‘care and concern’ over Madeleine.
Keep it balanced , as she may be returned to her family, (and lets be blunt about this, I hope they keep an eye on her this time) all this furore will die down, the yellow ribbons etc be thrown away, and every week 400 children will go missing, and not a word said.
Unless you are all closely related to the McCanns, why the obsession with just one child ?
June 12th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
……….and your point is? Whatever motivates someone to become a serving soldier is irrelevent, the fact is the yellow ribbon has been hi-jacked by the Team McCann campaign and by not wearing one, you are subjected to being called heartless and un-caring. I refused to display a ‘find Madaline’ poster in the window of my business and was met with a tirade of abusive and foul language but only after I was almost bullied into doing the ‘right thing for Maddie’ - in the middle of a large UK city, I hardly think any one of my customers would not have already heard of this story so I fail to see what good it would have done other than to make someone else feel a whole lot better
June 12th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
soldiers fighting in the war chose to serve their country and are well paid for it.
June 12th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Frankly, I am appalled that the wearing of a yellow ribbon has almost become synonomous with one missing child. Did anyone of you wear a ribbon during the Vietnam or Korean conflicts? No. Do any of you wear a ribbon now in hope that our serving soldiers in Iraq come home in one piece? No.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Anorak, the wearing of the yellow ribbon covers more that self satisfaction.
It serves as a reminder. When on holiday, if a person sees someone else wearing a yellow ribbon it wil remind them of Madeleine and perhaps remind them to have a little look around them at the children that they see, wherever they are the world over.
Perhaps it will remind a family to pull their children a little closer, or keep a closer eye and prevent further abduction.
Perhaps it will remind anyone who sees it that somewhere in the world a child is suffering. Not necessarily Madeleine, any child. It may prompt them to donate their 50p to a childrens charity instead of text voting some fat cow out of big brother.
There are good reasons for wearing the ribbon. Exercise your brain a little.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:56 am
We are in New Zealand and watch this story and wait like the rest of you worldwide. We talk about it everyday and friends alike, feel desparate at the lack of news. Our mood has been black and we hope very much for the day when some news of Madeleines return hits our screens. Only then will this dark cloud go away.
June 11th, 2007 at 12:32 am
I WOULD THINK THAT THE WHOLE WORLD REALISES THAT PRINCE HARRY IS THE SON OF GINGER EX MAJOR JAMES HEWETT.
I WOULDNT FANCY HIS CHANCES IN AFGHANISTAN, THEYLL BUMP HIM OFF LIK THEY DID HIS MOTHER. AND BLAME IT ON THE ENEMY. PROBABLY WHY HES ALWAYS SLAUGHTERED, HES SCARED TO DEATH OF THE HIT TEAM COMING FOR HIM.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
I have been following this story everyday on the internet from Houston, Texas USA. This is completely unacceptable. To the kidnapper: You must release Madeleine now! She belongs with her parents. If not, you are condemed to hell.
June 10th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
If the parents are grieving I think that they have lost hope. At this stage, the authorities have no leads and time is no longer on their side. For sure everything that could possibly be done has been done, but without any leads after all this time things are not looking good. It is deeply saddening and of course this type of thing will continue to happen.
June 10th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Anorak…….I cannot answer that????
June 10th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Susanne - Is wearing it says so much what does not wearing it say?
June 10th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Anorak…….what indeed is the message with THE YELLOW RIBBON - actually I think YOU summed it up pretty well yourself!!!!! As I think it is all the above -as you say…..+ more along the same lines!!!! Thank you for for asking me - AND giving the answer in at the same time.
June 10th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I think someone has the wrong Kate re PW , and yes had heard that Harry could be the son of A N Other well before his mother died.
June 10th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
This page is for Madedeline and like wise stories
Why then are we reading about the royal family
I think you have the wrong page
June 10th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Susanne - We all wish for the safe return of the McCann’s daughter. But this case has been highly unusual, a lost child amid a voracious media frenzy. Wear a yellow ribbon - of course, if you want to. But what is its message? That you care? That you are thinking of Madedleine? That you empathise with the McCanns?
June 10th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
What on earth was that all about, that Amy and Natasha posted ?
” Kate and her mother have paid a ” special clairvoyant ” to do witchcraft on Prince William. Some people knew it and it is very sad for William as he want to be himself but he feels trap . ”
???????????????
Also, does anyone in the UK put credence in what I saw on the MSN homepage about Prince Harry not being Prince Charles’ son?
?????????????
June 10th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Well it was inevitable, if sad. I keep seeing people invoke God as some sort of divine protector of kids. ‘Fraid not. He didn’t stop the McCann girl going missing and hasn’t stopped all those before and all those to come - and he still hasn’t intervened to bring peace to the parents of the (still) missing boy thought to be buried somewhere on the Yorkshire Moors back in the 60’s. And let’s not even mention how many of the Good Lord’s precious children die every day from starvation, poverty or wars. One might even accuse the Big Himself of wilful neglect.
It’s all a bit depressing. The media grew tired of this story as soon as the Portugese police (sensibly) refused to arrest Murat at their urging. The media can go to hell - they have brought nothing - NOTHING - useful to this sorry circus act and, as usual, their short attention spans have gotten the better of them.
The McCanns must now face a grim reality, away from the glare of a thousand hungry TV cameras. Their daughter may never be found. It’s a possibility - and perhaps a better one than others.
Murat remains uncharged, but still in hiding. Nobody seems to know where the mysterious Russian and his girlfriend have vanished to. Lives - on all sides - remain suspended in limbo. This is part of the real damage done.
If the little girl is not found, perhaps a few months from now some properly investigative journalist might take it upon him or herself to review the evidence, follow-up some leads, perhaps write a feature or even make a TV documentary. It’s an invetiability. And Madeliene McCann becomes, after all, no more than another ghost lost in the machine…just like all the other missing children, dead princesses and suicidal rock stars. A modern myth, a story to be told and retold again.
June 10th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Kate and her mother have paid a ” special clairvoyant ” to do witchcraft on Prince William.
Some people knew it and it is very sad for William as he want to be himself but he feels trap .
June 10th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Devastated . Absolutely devastated that not only madeleine but thousands of missing kiddies are still not found
My God , What is happening when little children can be snathed like this .
Everyone is complaining about all the CTTV in this country - But my God do i feel good that we have it .
It is just a shame that other countries such as Portugal do not have this facility - Maybe madeleine would have been back with her mummy and daddy by now or not even snatched in the first place .
Poor poor innocent little children , my insides feel like they are being pulled out and tied in knots when i think about them .
Lets just all pray that news comes soon and madeleine is found safe and Well . GOD BLESS MADELIENE AND ALL THE OTHER MISSING LITTLE INNOCENTS OUT THERE _ GOD BLESS YOU ALL XXXX
June 10th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Like Natasha I and all my friend will continue to hope and pray for the safe return of Maddy to her loving parents and family. Anyone who has a child will know the pain they suffer and this pain will never go away.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Kate and her mother have paid a ” special clairvoyant ” to do witchcraft on Prince William.
Some people knew it and it is very sad for William as he want to be himself but he feels trap .