Ronald and Reginald Kray are sometimes referred to as ‘legends’.
But legends are usually heroes. Ronnie and Reggie were fearsome, violent gangsters who were incarcerated for life for murder. They weren’t legends – but their story is legendary.
Ahead of the release of new film Legend, starring Tom Hardy as both brothers, JOE were invited by East London tours to learn more about the notorious twins; to know more why they ended up like they did, and why we’re still fascinated by their story.
They had a loving upbringing, their mum Violet doted on them and they adored her, so where, when and why did it f**k up so royally?
These philosophical questions are fine, but a two-hour walk around the Krays’ old stomping ground needs a stronger selling point. I found it at the end of the tour itinerary at The Blind Beggar pub.
The option to have a pint sitting in the exact spot where Ronnie shot George Cornell in the head? Yep, sold – that isn’t something you get to do every day.
Despite what you may have heard, the twins never owned pubs, they just ‘borrowed’ their facilities, such as The Lion in Stepney, which has since been turned into flats.
Their meetings and scheming took place on the first floor. It was here that Ronnie said one night: “I’ve heard Cornell is in The Blind Beggar” and off he went to plant a bullet in his head, before returning to the pub to clean up.
It was the last place they drank in, effectively their last night of freedom, before they were arrested marking the end of their ruthless gangland empire.
Were Reggie and Ronnie, who were both jailed for life in 1969, mummy’s boys? Absolutely. I’m told the cliché about them doting on their mum Violet was true but they didn’t care much for their dad Charlie.
Ronnie contracted diphtheria, a potentially fatal contagious bacterial infection, when he was young. Medics believed because he had it for so long it may have been the catalyst for his paranoid schizophrenia, which finally led to him being admitted to Broadmoor hospital, where he died in 1995.
Reggie met and fell in love with Frances Shea, but the pair shared a turbulent relationship. They were married at St James the Less in Bethnal Green, below. It is one of the scenes covered in the upcoming film, directed by Brian Helgeland.
Renowned photographer David Bailey shot their wedding – the only wedding job he ever agreed to. At this point, standing outside the church, our very informative tour guide poignantly said: “It was almost as if they’re preserved in 1965 and never came out the other side.”
Reggie and Frances’ love had a sorrowful ending. Frances felt trapped and desperately unhappy during the marriage so they eventually divorced before her tragic suicide.
There have been rumours that Reggie became insanely jealous over any man getting close to Frances and murdered her, but it’s an accusation which has never been proven.
At lunch time, the Krays would often go to E. Pellicci, a cafe on Bethnal Green Road, which is still owned by the same family. Whereas so many locations have been updated or destroyed, E. Pellicci maintains the same charm. It’s well worth a visit, just make sure you go before their 4pm closing time.
One thing became apparent on the tour, a lot of the brothers’ lives were lived in a three-mile radius from their home, aka Fort Vallance. If they weren’t holding meetings in a pub, they’d have them at home with Violet ‘fetching The Firm tea and cucumber sandwiches’.
This is the street where their house was demolished in 1968 and since rebuilt.
Despite being proud of their roots, the Krays got to know a lot of the rich and famous as their celebrity status grew – Judy Garland was one such star – and she visited the twins at home.
Word on the street was if you’d pissed off the Krays but were invited to their house, the most you’d get was a dressing down. You wouldn’t get beaten black and blue or lose fingers round there, they’d save all of that for the boozer.
Like The Carpenters Arms, for example.
The twins, their friends and of course The Firm, were having a good ol’ fashioned knees-up the night Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie was brutally murdered.
It started with Reggie smashing him in the face with a whisky glass; Jack The Hat was drunk and high and tried to retaliate which resulted in Reggie stabbing him to death with a carving knife, with Ronnie holding him down.
His body then disappeared.
George Cornell was another sworn enemy and gangster who exchanged blows with the Krays over the years.
In 1966, Ronnie found out Cornell, who was part of the South London Ferguson gang, was invading their patch by drinking in The Blind Beggar. At the time, Ronnie had apparently had enough of his ‘bitching’ and sped down there. He walked straight in and shot him in the head in front of around a dozen witnesses.
Cornell, who had the bullet penetrate his skull and out the other side, died two hours later in hospital. It is believed he met his end because he called Ronnie a “fat poof”.
Two years later, after intense police probing with rewards and anonymity lures, witnesses came forward to testify and Reggie and Ronnie were tried and charged with murder and sent to jail for life in 1969.
If you do visit the Beggar for a pint, go to the hatch at the end of the bar and that’s the exact spot it happened, if like me, you’re into that sort of thing.
Unlike another pub on the tour, who weren’t fond of having Krays tours in, The Blind Beggar are quite proud of their bloody heritage…
And why not, it is legend after all…
Legend opens in cinemas on September 9. To book a tour, go to www.eastendtours.com
