Kate is believed to have attended a special church service with husband Gerry and their 12-year-old twins today
EXCLUSIVE
By Tracey Kandohla
26th March 2017, 4:41 pm Updated: 26th March 2017, 4:52 pm
KATE McCann faces more heartache today as she spends her 10th Mother’s Day without daughter Madeleine – one of the toughest dates on her calendar.
The brave mum said the occasion would be painful for her and “a constant reminder that one of my babies isn’t with me.”
Kate McCann, pictured with husband Gerry, is marking her 10th Mother’s Day without missing daughter Maddie
Madeleine McCann disappeared in May 2007 while on holiday with her family in Portugal
She is believed to have attended a special church service with husband Gerry and their 12-year-old twins Sean and Amelie where prayers were said for Maddie and other missing children.
Former GP Kate, 49, in a previous TV interview to mark Mother’s Day, vows to “get through it like any other day.” She said: “I am still Madeleine’s mum and always will be. I just want to bring her back into the warmth and love of our family.”
Locals in the family’s home village of Rothley, Leics, remembered Maddie during a morning service at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Traditionally the children hand their mothers a a daffodil after the final hymn is sung.
One worshipper said: “It is a service representing Lent and at the end it is custom for the children to file up to the doors and pick a daffodil from the basket to give to their mums.”
The three-year-old girl vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz nearly a decade ago.
Devout Catholic Kate and heart doctor Gerry, 48, are holding onto a glimmer of hope that their daughter – who would now be aged 13 – could still be alive.
The couple are bracing themselves for the agonising milestone anniversary in less than six weeks.
A close pal of the McCann’s said: “Kate and Gerry continue to believe that Madeleine is still out there to be found and they hope police finally get the breakthrough that everybody desperately wants.
“The pain of being parted from Madeleine never fades but Kate keeps strong and brave for the twins’ sake.”
In the run up to the anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance her parents have been bombarded with cruel tweets.
But Kate revealed this week that she’s ignoring all negative remarks. She told the Sun Online exclusively: “I’m not hurt an upset by what they say because I don’t do social media.”
Scotland Yard have been given an extra £85,000 to help keep their struggling six-year search for Maddie alive.
Earlier this week the McCann’s lost the latest and possibly the last round in their long running battle to silence a former police chief.
The fresh setback means Kate and Gerry now face paying all the court costs of their tormentor Goncalo Amaral plus their own fees, which could wipe out the entire Find Maddie Fund.
Their last-bid action challenging a court ruling was thrown out of Lisbon’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rubber-stamped “Indeferida” – or Rejected.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance
But they could consider going to the European Court of Human Rights if they feel an “injustice” has been done.
Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said of the fresh legal loss: “This is just another part of the legal challenge.”
He declined to discuss if the McCanns would continue their nine-year fight against ex-Portuguese officer Mr Amaral, saying: “Anything to do with the Supreme Court Ruling is a matter for Kate and Gerry’s lawyers in Portugal.”
The couple’s lawyer Isabel Duarte declined to comment, saying: “As yet we have not received any formal notification from the court.”
The Sun
