Cops warned McCanns not to talk about Madeleine on 11th Anniversary

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6156218/madeline-mccann-parents-kate-gerry-warned-not-talk-11th-anniversary-disappearance/



'DON'T TALK' Madeleine McCann parents Kate and Gerry ‘warned by cops not to talk about missing daughter’ on 11th anniversary of disappearance


Scotland Yard detectives are said to have warned the couple it could hinder the ongoing £12m search if they discuss it publicly


Exclusive


By Tracey Kandohla


27th April 2018, 1:59 pm
Updated: 27th April 2018, 3:32 pm

MADELEINE McCann's parents have been warned by cops not to discuss the heartbreaking disappearance of their daughter ahead of the 11th anniversary next week.

Kate and Gerry were asked to appear on ITV show Loose Women but detectives told them it “would not be helpful” as they continue to chase leads in the £12m probe.

Loose Women producers were said to be “desperate” to secure an exclusive chat with the couple - also parents to 13-year-old twins Sean and Amelie - to mark 11 years since Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007.

A friend of the McCanns said today: “They were told it would be a softly softly discussion about how they are coping after all these years and how their twins are faring.



"But Gerry advised them they would only do media if the police wanted them to, if it could help the search for Madeleine.

"They told them it could hinder rather than help and specifically advised them not to

“Interviewers always want to ask them about the investigation and why it has cost so much but they are not meant to discuss it for operational reasons.

"They are, of course, kept fully informed of what is going on and will be the first to know if there are any significant updates."



Heart doctor Gerry, 49, and former GP Kate, 50, have also turned down interview offers from a number of magazines and TV stations in France and Germany rather than jeopardise the investigation.

The pal added: "They’re always bombarded with requests for interviews in the run up to the anniversary.

“They are not trying to be awkward or evasive with the press, but if police don’t want them to discuss publicly their life without Madeleine they will not do so.

"They really appreciate the fact the the Metropolitan Police are still committed to looking for their daughter."

Scotland Yard and ITV both declined to comment.

Last year Kate and Gerry gave a moving interview to the BBC's Fiona Bruce to mark a decade since Madeleine went missing from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Kate said she felt "guilty" over the huge sums spent on the search for her daughter when other families do not get the same publicity or money.

In the past, fees from TV and press interviews, plus the proceeds from Kate's book, have gone to the Find Madeleine Fund to pay for private investigators.

But they have also turned down "massive" offers if they did not feel they were right.

The pal said: "One American TV station told them to 'name their price' to visit the family home and film Madeleine’s bedroom. They refused.

“Their daughter’s pink room is a shrine to her, it remains unchanged since the day she vanished and no one, apart from family, is allowed in there."

Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, still cling onto hope Madeleine - who would now be almost 15 - could still be alive and are buoyed by stories of other children being reunited with their families many years after going missing.

The Sun Online revealed last month that Scotland Yard had received a new cash boost from the Home Office to carry on their search until the end of September.

But the amount, rumoured to be as much as £150,000, is being kept secret amid fears of a public backlash after a rise in violent crime was linked to police budget cuts.

The Home Office said: “We are not publicising the figure applied for by the Metropolitan Police and the amount given this time.

"We remain committed to the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine.”

Cops tell the McCanns to "shut up" - eleven years too late for that - we all have the measure of them.