Kate McCann has been fixed in the public's eye from the first days of the disappearance of her four-year-old daughter Madeleine.

Initially less vocal than her husband Gerry, she often stood silently by his side holding his hand as he addressed the press at the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing on 3 May.

Often appearing tired and looking strained, the 39-year-old doctor has experienced her daughter's disappearance, the sudden weight of the world's media and much speculation over the fate of her child.

Now she has reportedly been declared a formal suspect - known as "arguida" - by the Portuguese police.

Public tears

From the beginning, the McCanns cited the importance of their faith in coping with their ordeal, with Kate being particularly reliant on her long-standing Catholicism.

She works as a GP in Latham House Surgery in Leicestershire, and is originally from Liverpool.

Every hour now, I still question, 'Why did I think that was safe?' Kate McCann

She broke down publicly at a church service to mark a calendar month after Madeleine's disappearance, bursting into tears after a young Portuguese girl kissed her during the service.

And the couple were granted a brief audience with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome during May.

Mrs McCann, visibly upset and close to tears, showed the Pope a photograph of Madeleine, which he blessed.

As the couple's search for their daughter continued, through numerous press interviews, church visits, and flying trips around Europe, she has constantly carried around a small pink toy called Cuddle Cat, a favourite of Madeleine's.

Mrs McCann has expressed her regret at leaving her children alone in their holiday apartment while she and her husband Gerry had dinner within the Ocean Club complex on the night Madeleine disappeared.

Kate McCann showed a picture of Madeleine to the Pope

"We are just so desperately sorry. Every hour now, I still question, 'Why did I think that was safe?'," she said.

But although appearing distressed and distraught, the McCanns have still managed to face a constant barrage of demands from media from across the world, in their attempts to keep their missing daughter in the minds of the public.

In doing so, and as time has gone on, Mrs McCann has grown easier with the press and has given an increasing amount of interviews, some by herself.

In August she appeared in a video posted on the Don't You Forget About Me channel on the YouTube website, set up to help find her daughter and other missing children.

She has previously said that the first 48 hours after Madeleine's disappearance were "incredibly difficult... but after that we got strength from somewhere."