Madeleine McCann's dad makes rare admission about what took toll on him after her disappearance
The British toddler disappeared from her family's Praia Da Luz apartment in the Portuguese Algarve in 2007
Gerry McCann, the father of missing toddler Madeleine McCann, has made an unexpected appeal to the media, pleading with tabloid reporters to stop 'monstering' his family.
In an interview given to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this week, the father-of-three – who also shares twins Sean and Amelia with wife Kate – accused journalists of having 'repeatedly interfered with the investigation' of his daughter's disappearance.
For those in need of a reminder, British four-year-old Madeleine had been staying in her family's Praia Da Luz hotel apartment in the Portuguese Algarve back in 2007, when she vanished in the night.
Gerry and Kate had been enjoying dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant on the evening in question, only noticing their eldest child had disappeared after returning to check on the trio at 10pm.
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As of right now, the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance is ongoing. At a low point, however, a major search by German police in Portugal in June 2025 was unable to see key suspect Christian Brückner charged in relation with the crime.
In the years since his daughter vanished, Gerry McCann has only spoken directly to the press on a handful of occasions – including this week, when he accused the media of having hindered the police's search for her.
Speaking to the BBC, he demanded the cancelled second phase of the Lord Leveson Inquiry to be continued, believing it would have found actions exhibited by some journalists, specifically with regards to their relationships with politicians and police, to be unlawful.
Amongst those who voiced their support of Gerry's comments was the Duke of Sussex, who claimed he 'stands firmly with all those harmed by unethical and unlawful press intrusion'.
Prince Harry 'fully supports the implementation of the Leveson Inquiry's recommendations as essential reforms to protect the public, while safeguarding responsible, free, and fair journalism', a statement from the 41-year-old has said.
As part of his complaint, Gerry claimed that, in the months following Madeleine's disappearance, he endured 'journalists coming to the house, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were terrified'.
He added of his family: "We are lucky we survived. We had tremendous support - but I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning. And it was the media, primarily.
"It was what was happening and the way things were being portrayed, where you were being suffocated and buried, and it felt like there wasn't a way out."
Of the impact that press coverage had on his family's wellbeing, Gerry went on to allege: "Published material which should have been confidential, should be passed on to the police, witness statements, many other things that have gone out.
"So if you were the perpetrator, you knew a lot more than you should have done - and as a victim, as a parent, it's absolutely dismaying."
Gerry also slammed the Labour government for failing to make any major moves on regulating the press. As such, he, wife Kate and over 30 others, including Hillsborough victims' families, and television presenter Caroline Flack's mother, have signed a letter calling out Keir Starmer to take action.
The group hope that the Prime Minister will revere the decision made by the Tory government back in 2018, which ruled not to hold the second phase of the Leveson Inquiry.
The first phase took place between 2011 and 2012 following the infamous phone-hacking scandal, after which the industry-funded press regulator Ipso was introduced.
Called as a witness at the time, Gerry claimed news outlets had 'made stories up' about he and Kate', and had 'sustained, inaccurate and malicious series of headlines in a number of papers which gave the impression that we were in some way responsible for or involved in Madeleine's disappearance'.
This included the News of the World publishing complete transcripts from his wife's personal diary.
"It's quite obvious that press barons can meet the prime minister, but the people who have suffered at the hands of them can't," Gerry continued this week.
In response, despite insisting that the current government had 'ruled out' a follow-up to the inquiry, claiming the attitude of the press is 'very different' to how it once was and that most people consume news online, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Breakfast she'd meet with the McCanns.
Asked finally about the current status of his daughter's disappearance, Gerry told BBC listeners: "Madeleine's been missing for 18 years, and the bottom line is, we still don't know what's happened to her."
He went on to claim there is 'no evidence to say she's no longer with us, adding: "Now we fully understand she may be dead, it may even be probable, but we don't know that."
Topics: Crime, Madeleine McCann, UK News, Prince Harry
Rhianna Benson