Kate and Gerry McCann today accepted £550,000 libel damages over "utterly false and defamatory" claims they were responsible for the death of their daughter and were 'swingers'.
The couple were not at London's High Court for the settlement of their action against Express Newspapers.
In a statement they said they were 'pleased' with the outcome, and criticised the 'utter falsity' of what was printed by the newspapers.
They described the claims in the newspapers as 'grotesque and defamatory'.
They said: 'We are innocent of all allegations. There is no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been seriously harmed.'
Some articles claimed the couple were involved in swining or wife-swapping orgies.
Their solicitor-advocate, Adam Tudor, told Mr Justice Eady that all the money would be donated to the Fund established to assist with the search for the four-year-old, who disappeared from Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May last year.
Mr Tudor said that from the late summer of last year until February this year, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star and the Daily Star Sunday, which have a combined circulation of several million copies as well as a substantial online readership, published more than 100 articles which were seriously defamatory of the couple.
He said: "The general theme of the articles was to suggest that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible for the death of Madeleine or that there were strong or reasonable grounds for so suspecting and that they had then disposed of her body; and that they had then conspired to cover up their actions, including by creating 'diversions' to divert the police's attention away from evidence which would expose their guilt.
"Many of these articles were published on the front pages of the newspapers and on their websites, accompanied by sensational headlines.
"In addition to the allegations referred to above, the Daily Star published further articles (under the headlines 'Maddie mum 'sold' her' and 'Maddie 'sold' by hard-up McCanns') which sought to allege that Mr and Mrs McCann had sold their daughter in order to ease their financial burdens.
"A further article alleged that Mr and Mrs McCann were involved in 'swinging' or wife-swapping orgies."
Mr Tudor said that, as Express Newspapers now acknowledged, all of these allegations "were, and remain, entirely untrue".
"In particular, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible for the death of their daughter or that they were involved in any sort of cover-up, and there was no basis for Express Newspapers to allege otherwise."
Express Newspaper's counsel Stephen Bacon said: "Express Newspapers regrets publishing these extremely serious, yet baseless, allegations concerning Mr and Mrs McCann over a sustained period of what will already have been an enormously distressing time for them, and at a time when they have been trying to focus on finding their daughter.
"As an expression of its regret, Express Newspapers has agreed to publish front-page apologies, acknowledging the falsity of the allegations and reflecting the fact that they should never have been made."
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/122176-mccanns-victory-over-maddie-and-orgy-claims#ixzz142aNADnN
The couple were not at London's High Court for the settlement of their action against Express Newspapers.
In a statement they said they were 'pleased' with the outcome, and criticised the 'utter falsity' of what was printed by the newspapers.
They described the claims in the newspapers as 'grotesque and defamatory'.
They said: 'We are innocent of all allegations. There is no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been seriously harmed.'
Some articles claimed the couple were involved in swining or wife-swapping orgies.
Their solicitor-advocate, Adam Tudor, told Mr Justice Eady that all the money would be donated to the Fund established to assist with the search for the four-year-old, who disappeared from Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May last year.
Mr Tudor said that from the late summer of last year until February this year, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star and the Daily Star Sunday, which have a combined circulation of several million copies as well as a substantial online readership, published more than 100 articles which were seriously defamatory of the couple.
A further article alleged that Mr and Mrs McCann were involved in 'swinging' or wife-swapping orgies."
He said: "The general theme of the articles was to suggest that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible for the death of Madeleine or that there were strong or reasonable grounds for so suspecting and that they had then disposed of her body; and that they had then conspired to cover up their actions, including by creating 'diversions' to divert the police's attention away from evidence which would expose their guilt.
"Many of these articles were published on the front pages of the newspapers and on their websites, accompanied by sensational headlines.
"In addition to the allegations referred to above, the Daily Star published further articles (under the headlines 'Maddie mum 'sold' her' and 'Maddie 'sold' by hard-up McCanns') which sought to allege that Mr and Mrs McCann had sold their daughter in order to ease their financial burdens.
"A further article alleged that Mr and Mrs McCann were involved in 'swinging' or wife-swapping orgies."
Mr Tudor said that, as Express Newspapers now acknowledged, all of these allegations "were, and remain, entirely untrue".
"In particular, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible for the death of their daughter or that they were involved in any sort of cover-up, and there was no basis for Express Newspapers to allege otherwise."
Express Newspaper's counsel Stephen Bacon said: "Express Newspapers regrets publishing these extremely serious, yet baseless, allegations concerning Mr and Mrs McCann over a sustained period of what will already have been an enormously distressing time for them, and at a time when they have been trying to focus on finding their daughter.
"As an expression of its regret, Express Newspapers has agreed to publish front-page apologies, acknowledging the falsity of the allegations and reflecting the fact that they should never have been made."
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/122176-mccanns-victory-over-maddie-and-orgy-claims#ixzz142aNADnN
