Madeleine McCann’s sister Amelie makes rare public appearance at Commonwealth Games with her parents

Madeline McCann’s parents Kate and Gerry were spotted cheering on their son, Sean, as he took on the 400m freestyle race during his Commonwealth Games debut in Scotland.

Kate and Gerry, both 58, were pictured watching animatedly from the crowds as they witnessed the 21-year-old Loughborough student finish in the third of four qualifying heats at Tollcross International Swimming Centre with a time of 3:52:64.

Joining the couple was Sean’s twin sister, Amelie, who has only been pictured a handful of times since their sister disappeared in Portugal nearly two decades ago.

Amelie, who is also 21, sat to her mother’s right to spectate the exciting sporting event. She opted for a casual look, wearing her blonde hair in a loose ponytail alongside a makeup-free base.

She is believed to also be at university. However, less is known about Amelie’s life than her sporting celebrity brother’s, as the McCanns have largely kept details about their children private.

Over the years, she has appeared only occasionally alongside her parents at vigils and memorial events marking her sister’s disappearance. Her most recent appearance was in Leicestershire, where she joined her parents at a public vigil to remember Madeleine, 19 years after she went missing.

She has spoken publicly on a few rare occasions, most recently in 2023 at a memorial service marking what would’ve been Madeleine’s 20th birthday.

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“We’re all here for the same reason,” she reportedly said at the time, adding that it was “nice that everyone is together”. According to Amelie’s LinkedIn profile, she attended higher education and has completed volunteer work in the sports sector.

Meanwhile, her brother Sean has become a competitive swimmer after completing school and regional freestyle races in his youth. 

He previously represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023, competing in the 400-meter and 1500-meter freestyle finals. He is also part of the National Open Water Development Squad and qualified for the 2025 European Open Water Championships. Alongside swimming, Sean is studying chemical engineering at Loughborough University.

Despite growing up with a sister who has one of the highest-profile missing person cases of all time, Amelie and Sean have mostly avoided interviews and other types of media exposure. They both keep details about their private lives under wraps.

What happened to Madeleine McCann

The twins were just two years old when their sister was abducted from a room where they were all sleeping during a holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on 3 May 2007.

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Despite extensive searches and numerous investigations, Madeleine has never been found. Kate and Gerry share yearly updates on the Find Madeleine website, having marked the 19th anniversary of her disappearance in May.

They wrote: “19 years. The search goes on to find our Madeleine, to achieve some justice, to make the world that bit safer. We remain very grateful for all our support from friends and family, people we know and those we don’t – and from the police and authorities for their continued determination and effort. Thank you. For Madeleine, who we love and miss every day, we will never give up.”