MADELEINE McCann's little brother and sister will today mark her seventh birthday with a family tea party.

Five-year-old twins Sean and Amelie will be joined by relatives and friends at their home in Rothley, Leics.

A spokesman for mum Kate, 42, told how her daughter's third birthday since vanishing on holiday in Portugal was "particularly painful".

But both she and husband Gerry, 42, "still have hope and that keeps them strong".

Kate said: "The 12th is obviously a day when we should be celebrating with Madeleine."

The twins still talk often about their sister.

Kate recently revealed: "Amelie said, 'Mummy, she might speak another language'.

And Sean said to me, 'Never give up, Mummy'. I just said, 'Don't worry, I won't do that. None of us will'."