McCanns: Too unsettling to fly twins to Rome

Kate and Gerry McCann wanted to bring twins Sean and Amelie with them to Rome tonight but said they feared it would be too unsettling for the two year olds.

The couple flew to Rome today to prepare for a meeting with Pope Benedict XV1.

It is the first time they have left the twins overnight, but felt it was so important to remain focused on Madeleine.

Mrs McCann said: “Leaving them is really hard, I have never left them before.

“From a selfish point of view we would have liked to have had them here as a comfort.

“But I am sure it is not the best thing for them.”

Mrs McCann said they were being looked after by Gerry’s sister Trish Cameron and her husband. The pair are Madeleine’s godparents and the twins know them well.

She said: “Bringing them all this way, on a journey to another strange place that they do not know, is not really fair.

“This trip is about Madeleine at the end of the day.”

Mr McCann said they had been very exercised about whether or not they should bring the twins but felt in was in their best interests to stay in Portugal.

The Vatican had offered to cater for the twins if the McCanns had wanted them to do so.

But the tormented parents of Madeleine said they hoped to be back in the Algarve tomorrow night in time to tuck the twins up in their beds and say goodnight.