Madeleine's father and the hardest birthday of his life

And for him and his wife Kate it will be business as usual - desperately seeking Madeleine

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Such is their single-mindedness in the quest to find their little girl that Mr McCann had forgotten what day it was until someone reminded him.

The couple will today leave Praia da Luz on the Algarve to embark on another leg of their campaign to raise four-year-old Madeleine's profile around Europe - visiting Germany and Holland before preparing to fly to Morocco next week.

They will also record an appeal to be broadcast on the BBC Crimewatch programme in Britain tonight and conduct a series of TV interviews in Berlin and Amsterdam.

The intention is to spread the word about their missing daughter throughout the Continent. With trips to Rome and Madrid already behind them, they are targeting countries with strong tourist links to the Algarve.

So today they will leave the country on a private jet donated by an anonymous benefactor, and stay overnight in a Berlin hotel.

Tomorrow - the same day as the G8 meeting of leading industrial nations convenes - the McCanns plan to meet political figures and hold a press conference before flying on to Amsterdam.

The couple lived with Madeleine in the Netherlands for a year, during which time Mrs McCann was pregnant with the twins, Sean and Amelie.

After a series of interviews on Thursday, they will fly back to the Algarve in time for a jazz concert in Lagos, organised independently in their daughter's name as an act of 'solidarity'.

The couple have decided not to take the twins with them, even though they will be away for two nights.

Their family spokesman said the children would stay with Mr McCann's sister Trish Cameron and her husband Sandy, as they have done for the past two trips.

"It is a stable loving environment for them here,' he said. 'Their welfare is the most important thing - it is too much for them at their age."

It's also been uncovered that a bogus fundraiser ripped off donors who thought they were giving cash to help find missing Madeleine McCann.

The woman, 33, pocketed the cash from people who were told the money would be used to help fund the global search.

Her scam was uncovered after a suspicious resident alerted the police. She was arrested and admitted one offence but denied a campaign to con residents.

Plans are now also being made by the McCann's for a trip to Rabat in Morocco, possibly starting as soon as Sunday. They believe North Africa is an important place to visit because of its proximity to Portugal.

Several ferries a day leave from Tarifa in Spain for the 35-minute crossing to Tangiers.

Morocco has been mentioned repeatedly in the hunt for Madeleine, with a reported sighting of a little girl seen with a couple.

Mari Olli, a Norwegian woman who lives in Fuengirola on Spain's Costa del Sol, said she thought she saw Madeleine on May 9 at a petrol station in Marrakesh.

She described a blonde girl who turned to the man with her and said: 'Can I see mummy soon?'

Interpol and Leicestershire police investigated the claim and are thought to have ruled out its significance.

But Mrs McCann is nevertheless still keen to visit the north African country, which has long conducted underground trade in child abduction and paedophile sex slavery.

A family source said. "Kate feels it is very important to go because if you only focus on the European mainland you are missing out on a potentially important piece of the jigsaw."

Before they leave today, the couple will seek to meet Portuguese police for a progress report.

It was revealed yesterday that investigating officers have not had a single meeting with them for the last 11 days despite the McCanns' requests for a formal exchange of information.

The wall of silence means the couple are receiving most of their updates either through British police or from news reports - and they have had no chance to talk face-to-face to senior investigating officers since May 24.

The lack of communication was described as 'staggering' by sources close to the investigation in the UK yesterday.

One said that talking regularly to parents of a missing child should play a major part in an inquiry, for both emotional and operational reasons.

He added: "Getting round the table every now and then can often produce a germ of information which could ultimately provide a new lead, or at least short-circuit wasteful lines of inquiry.

"At the very least, it would keep them informed of the progress of the investigation. If the Portuguese police are not doing that, they are missing a trick."

Portugal's 'secrecy of justice' laws prevent officers from talking publicly about an active investigation, one of the major frustrations for the McCanns and the media.

At the couple's last meeting with police, they were understood to be impressed with the youngest of the three senior investigating officers.

Luis Neves, 41-year-old national director of the DCCB, the Portuguese equivalent of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, appeared to have a good grasp of the case and gave a detailed progress report.

But since then another scheduled meeting was cancelled, and there has been none since.