Sean and Amelie will be celebrating their milestone birthdays whilst still not knowing the fate of Maddie, who police fear is dead.

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The pair have kept out the public spotlight over the years on the wishes of their parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

A ban of media photographing the siblings of the world’s most talked about missing child has been in place to protect their privacy until their joint 18th birthdays.

Only pictures of Maddie’s sister and brother as toddlers have been allowed to be published before a court order – which is set to expire today – was put in place.

Sean and Amelie were aged just two and a quarter when Maddie – 21 months their senior – vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007.

The three-year-old – nine days short of her fourth birthday – was snatched at night from her bed in a room she was sharing with the twins who were sleeping in travel cots. 

They  had appeared to be undisturbed by the kidnap.

As the family from Rothley, Leicestershire, face the poignant 16th anniversary of Maddie going missing in three months, they still cling onto a glimmer of hope she could still be alive.

The twins have spend most of their lives without evening knowing their elder sister who “adored” them.

Renowned heart specialist Gerry and Kate, a former GP turned medical worker with dementia sufferers, both 54, have recently vowed to “never forget” nor “give up” on their daughter.

They posted on the Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page in early January: “Christmas and other celebratory events will never be the same with our family incomplete, but we continue to make the best of our situation whilst never forgetting or giving up.”

They add: “We head into the New Year with continued determination and positivity.”

If still alive Maddie would be aged 19, and 20 in mid May.

Convicted German sex offender Christian B was sensationally named as a key suspect in June 2020.

Reports suggest German Police, working with British detectives, are expected to finally grill and possibly bring kidnap and “no body” murder charges against him over the coming months.

The paedophile, 45, was charged last autumn with five unrelated sex attacks, two on children, while he languishes behind bars for the rape of an American tourist in the same Algarve resort Maddie was taken from.

He has repeatedly protested his innocence, vehemently denying any involvement in Maddie’s abduction.

Sean and Amelie, who are in their final year at a Catholic School in Loughborough, Leics, Maddie had been due to be a pupil at, are both aspiring athletes, excelling in county standard swimming and cross country running and also competing in triathlons.

When they were youngsters the twins were the “best of friends,” their mum recalled in her personal memoir “Madeleine.”

They were born on the afternoon of February 01, 2005, with Kate stating in her 2011 book: “Suddenly we were a family of five. How lucky we felt.”

She told how her “heart was ready to explode” at the “excitement” Maddie displayed at seeing the twins for the first time.

‘NEVER GIVE UP’

Re-living the magic moment Kate said: “Gerry brought Madeleine in to meet her little brother and sister.

When she saw Sean and Amelie her eyes lit up, her mouth opened wide in astonishment and wonder and she lifted her arms in the air.

“My heart was ready to explode at her excitement.”

Kate wrote: “After inspecting her two new prospective  playmates she joined me on my bed. It was such a special moment, one of my fondest memories of Madeleine.”

The twins are expected to celebrate their big day with friends and close family – and remembering Maddie too.

A McCann friend said: “Their only wish is for their big sister to come home. There will be prayers for Madeleine as well wherever she is.”

Kate and Gerry will mark the double special birthdays in “as normal way as possible” for the sake of the twins.

Kate has previously told how the family often pray for Maddie’s safe return and always remember her on key occasions. 

She said her twins have “grown up essentially without Madeleine but knowing their sister is missing and they want her back.”

Speaking in her ambassador role for charity Missing People she has said: “They have their own friends and they keep busy and they’re really sporty but their only wish is for their big sister to come home. We miss our complete family of five.

“As a family 98 per cent of the time we’re busy. I don’t know if that’s a conscious thing but it helps. 

“The urge to look for Madeleine absolutely hasn’t changed at all.”