To begin, I must make it crystal clear that I do not in any way support, enjoy or worship violent crime. Violence is horrific, hideous, heinous and in no way do I defend it. In fact I condemn it roundly and wholeheartedly.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray were violent criminals, Ronnie in particular. Ronnie was the slightly older, more dominant twin and it was Ronnie who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Reggie was extremely loyal to Ronnie and could not ever turn his back on him. The sadness is that had Reggie turned his back on his twin, he might just have avoided a jail sentence of a minimum of 30 years, as laid down by Mr Justice Melford Stevenson. 'Society deserves a rest from your activities.' he pronounced. Off the twins went to prison to serve their thirty years minimum, both in the end,having spent just over half their lives in prison. Ronnie died in Broadmoor Hospital in 1995, after a heart attack. He was 61 years old. He smoked incessantly and the cigarettes eventually got the better of him. Reggie didn't actually die in prison. In August 2000, Reggie was terminally ill with cancer. Finally Jack Straw, the then Home Secretary in the Blair government, did the right thing and released Reggie on compassionate grounds. Reggie lived for just a few weeks after his release. He died several days before his 67th birthday.
The story of the Kray twins is an undoubtedly sad one but it is also a compelling one. Born in 1933 in the East End of London to Charlie and Violet Kray, they had a very happy childhood, by their own admission. They were much loved by Violet and they were devoted to her in their turn. In Reggie's final interview he speaks of his mother as, 'a warm, very giving person who would never run anybody down.'
What is so remarkable about Reggie and Ronnie Kray is that they were born poor, very poor and yet succeeded in becoming very rich and very famous. Notorious criminals as they were, there was no stopping famous people who were attracted to them and their clubs. Judy Garland was a regular in their clubs, some said she was in loved with Reggie, who was undoubtedly the epitome of cool with good looks to match. He had a six pack before people even spoke of six packs. They had clubs in the West End, Esmerelda's Barn and the Hideout, also in the West End. Reggie was a good business man - level headed, calculating and determined. Had he not been goaded by Ronnie, he may not have murdered Jack the Hat McVitie in 1967. Ronnie had already committed murder by walking into The Blind Beggar pub, in East London, which was slap bang in the middle of the Kray's 'Manor' - as they referred to their area.
Something else which led Reggie to murder was that the previous year, Frances Shea killed herself. Her name was actually Frances Kray but she was born Shea, and married Reggie at the age of 21. Reggie first met her when she was just 16 years old - a beautiful girl with a charming personality but also of a fragile mental state. It seems clear that Frances did love Reggie, at least initially, but then realisation of what her husband was involved in and the torments of Ronnie, now her brother in law led her to suicide. It is well documented that Reggie loved her very much and that when she committed suicide he was grief-stricken. He drank and took large quantities of Valium in an attempt to numb his feelings. Of course, there is no excuse for murder but had he not been out of his head on drugs and alcohol and Ronnie hadn't encouraged him, Reggie may not have murdered Jack the Hat and would have received a considerably shorter sentence for extortion and protection rackets.
The twins had an older brother Charlie, six years older than them, often referred to as Champagne Charlie, an affable. popular man, who nevertheless became involved in crime himself. He was the one who introduced the twins to boxing. It was commonplace for the East End to produce boxers, often street fighting men who honed their skills in the ring. There were plenty of fights between Ronnie and Reggie as they were growing up and these fights, plus their telepathic communication, often seen in the case of twins, made the twins into fighting machines. They fought as one and yet there were two of them. Other East End hard men were unable to beat them, even when, as in the case of the South London Richardson gang, the twins were considerably outnumbered. No one could beat the 4 legged, 4 armed fighter.
Some people may not know about the twins' generosity. They always gave money to the families of the 'aways' - those men from The Firm, who were serving prison sentences. They also gave to charities, most generously, and although they did like to be photographed donating money, it is fair to say that the majority of people, whatever they may claim, are keen for people to know that they have indeed given to charity and are therefore good people. Even in prison they could get their donations to those who deserved them.
Their funerals were grand affairs. Six plumed black horses, the East End at a standstill and mouners 6 deep watching the procession as FRank Sinatra sang My Way. Reggie, in flowers, had the words, The Other Half of Me written on the side of his funeral carriage. Five years later, on Reggie's coffin were the words - Respect - Free At Last.
In 1997, a 38 year old English graduate, by chance, visited Reggie Kray in Maidstone prison. She was filling in for someone else, as part of a team interested in making a documentary about the Krays. Roberta Jones says that she didn't fall in love with Reggie at first sight. It took longer than that. In 1997 she married him. He was 63 years old. She nursed him through his last weeks and in her book Reg Kray - A Man Apart, she succeeds in showing the man behind the gangster legend - certainly not a monster but not an angel either.
Some thought that with the deaths of all the Kray brothers, people would lose interest in them. That doesn't seem to be happening. Tom Hardy's portrayal of both Reggie and Ronnie in the film Legend, released last September, has fuelled further interest. More books, more films will be released and for good or ill, it seems interest in the Krays will go on and on.
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