Kate McCann would not have stayed in Portugal so long if she had been involved in Madeleine's disappearance, friends said today.
She turned down pleas from her husband and friends to leave the country for a month before being officially named a suspect - even though she knew opinion there was turning against them.
A friend said: "If Kate had something to hide why would she hang around in Praia da Luz waiting for the police to come knocking on the door? Gerry and other friends were advising them to get out of there because the backlash was beginning but Kate said, 'No'.
Friends say such behaviour is proof of her innocence.
The comments come as the first moves of the new head of the Portuguese investigation suggested they are looking again at the possibility that the girl was snatched from her bed by a stranger on May 3. (Daily Mail)
