The Tal & Qual newspaper published a front-page headline suggesting that Portuguese police think the McCanns killed the four-year-old. The couple have now instructed their lawyers to take action against the newspaper for defamation over the story it printed on August 24.
The McCanns were so angry at the Tal & Qual story they felt they had no choice but to take legal action.
"We firmly believe that the report was speculative, defamatory and published despite official statements to the contrary," Madeleine's father wrote on his blog.