London in the 1960s. Everyone had a story about the Krays. You could walk into any pub to hear a lie or two about them. But I was there and Im not careless with the truth. They were brothers, but bound by more than blood. They were twins as well, counterparts. Gangster princes of the city they meant to conquer. Ron Kray was a one-man London mob. Bloodthirsty, illogical, and funny as well. My Reggie was different. Once in a lifetime do you find a street-fighting man like Reg. Believe me when I say it took a lot of love for me to hate him the way I do.
-Frances, The Legend
Once city, two brothers, and not limist.
Are you ready for the true storu about Kray twins? Are you ready to find out who they really were?
I know you are!
Let's go!
They were born on the 24th October 1933 in London. East London. Reggie was born ten minutes before Ronnie.
The Krays were called up to doBritish Army in March 1952. They got there and they attempted to leave after only a few minutes. When thecorporal in charge tried to stop them, he was seriously injured by Ronnie Kray who punched him on the jaw. The Krays walked back to their East End home. They were arrested the next morning by the police and turned over to the army.
There are some more adventures of Krays, but that is not the major subject of this story. I want to write about their ciminal careers. Or I should say career? Were they two bodies one soul?
Well, as Tom Hardy says in "The Legend" (Movie about those brothers from 2015, I highly recommend that movie.) "Blood is thicker than water."
They started as local criminals, they were taking money from club owners, they were sometimes beating some people, just like many other local criminals, from all around the world. By the end of the 1950s, the Krays were working for Jay Murray from Liverpool, armed robbery and arson. In 1960, Ronnie Kray was imprisoned for 18 months, and while he was in jail, his brother Reg bought a nightclub called Esmeralda's Barn. This increased the Krays' influence in the West End by making them celebrities as well as criminals.
They were the best years of our lives. They called them the swinging sixties. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were rulers of pop music, Carnaby Street ruled the fashion world... and me and my brother ruled London. We were fucking untouchable...
– Ronnie Kray, in his autobiography My Story
After that they were working with many 'successful criminals', they were the strongest, the prettiest, the richest, the most dangerous...
Nevertheless, by the end of 1967 Read had built up enough evidence against the Krays. Read was the inspector in the police, he was promoted, and his first mission was to bring down the Krays. He really gave his best ot do that, and he did it. So, as we said, he found evidenc, but none made a convincing case on any one charge.
On 8 May 1968, Ron, Reggie, and 15 other memebers of their gorup were finally arrested. They were arrested to the lifetime jail, with possibility to get our after 30 years, for the mureder.
Ronnie was mental ill, and because of that he spent rest of his life in mental hospital Boradmoore, where he died from heart attack on 17th od March in 1995.
Reggie was in prison, and he was set free in 2000. He died on 1st of October 2000. He had cancer.
They were buried together.
My loyalty to my brother is how I measure myself
Reggie Kray
This was my sotry about the Krays. There are many movies and stories about them, I mostly like "The Legend", movie relased in 2015, with Tom Hardy playing twins. I recommend to everyone to see it.
What is your story about the Krays?
Kray twins Ronnie and Reggie were the most feared gangsters of the East End's criminal underworld, chilling the spines of even their most hardened contemporaries. If you're not familiar with the life and times of East London's most notorious fraternal duo (or are craving more information after watching Tom Hardy in Legend read up on some amazing facts about Ronnie Kray and Reggie Kray...There was a third Kray brother Their old brother, Charlie Kray, was also a member of their gang "The Firm." However Charlie was the "quiet Kray" and never received the notoriety of Ronnie and Reggie. In 1997 Charlie was convicted of a £39 million cocaine smuggling plot and, aged 70, jailed for 12 years.he Firm didn't mind According to O'Leary, members of the Firm were tolerant of the Kray's sexuality."Even if they objected, Ron just smiled at them and told them they didn't know what they were missing," O'Leary has stated.They were photographed by David Bailey Fashion photographer David Bailey famously photographed the London gangsters in a Box Of Pin Ups published in 1965, which was a collection of poster prints featuring some of the most elite celebrities in the swinging sixties such as The Beatles, Jean Shrimpton and Mick Jagger.