A woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann has been remanded in custody after being charged with stalking the missing girl’s parents and siblings.
Julia Wandel, also known as Julia Wandelt, was arrested at Bristol airport on Wednesday.
Appearing at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, the defendant spoke to say her full name was Julia Wandel “according to court documents”.
The 23-year-old also gave her date of birth.
Ms Wandel, who wore a beige jumper in the courtroom, was asked a number of times to confirm whether she pleaded guilty, not guilty, or would give no indication as to her plea.
When she gave no indication, she told magistrates: “Sorry, I’m stressed.”
Ms Wandel is accused of stalking Kate, Gerry, Sean and Amelie McCann between 3 January 2024 and 15 February 2025.
She is alleged to have attended the family home on 2 May and 7 December 2024, and to have sent a letter, made calls, left voicemails, and sent WhatsApp messages to Kate and Gerry McCann.
The court was told the defendant had sent Amelie and Sean McCann Instagram messages between 3 January and 29 December 2024.
Prosecutor Ravinder Daroch told the court Ms Wandel is alleged to have made “persistent” contact with the McCanns since 2022, which allegedly “increased in frequency and became more alarming”.
She said the defendant is accused of attempting to make the McCanns aware “she was their missing daughter, Madeleine”.
Ms Wandel is alleged to have travelled to the annual vigil held in Rothley, Leicestershire, in 2024 to mark the anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
The court heard that Madeleine’s parents were not present, and that Ms Wandel allegedly delivered a letter to their address.
The Polish national claimed to be the missing girl on Instagram in 2023, but a DNA test found that she was Polish with some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage.
Ms Wandel was remanded in custody to appear for a plea hearing at Leicester Crown Court on 7 April.
Each of the four stalking offences carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in custody and/or an unlimited fine.
A second woman, aged 60 and from Wales, who was also arrested at the airport on suspicion of stalking, has been released on bail, police added.
Madeleine McCann was just three years old when she disappeared from a holiday resort in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007 while her parents, Kate and Gerry, were dining with friends nearby.
Her disappearance has sparked long-running global intrigue, and German prisoner Christian Bruckner was declared a prime suspect by Portuguese police in April 2022.
However, a German prosecutor said in late 2024 that there was no immediate prospect of Bruckner facing charges over Madeleine’s disappearance.
Appearing on the BBC Radio 4 podcast series Why Do You Hate Me? in early 2024, Ms Wandel explained she had first became suspicious of her identity when she was 20 years old and her family could not fill in gaps she had in her memories about her childhood.
She turned to the internet to scour missing person cases and came across the Madeleine McCann case.
She became convinced she was the missing girl, driven by similarities between herself and sketches of what Madeleine might look like now, and also by the fact that they both had a rare eye abnormality, which causes a mark on the iris.
She apologised to Madeleine’s parents in January 2024 in a social media post after a DNA test in April 2023 proved she wasn’t Madeleine.
