The Last International PlayboysThe Krays were the most notorious criminals of the 1960s, heading an organised underworld empire of protection rackets, violence and murder.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray were identical twins, born and raised in the East End of London - Charlie was born seven years earlier. The family moved from Hoxton to Bethnal Green when they were small, and the twins were soon involved in juvenile crime. Both were promising amateur boxers, but the sport - and National Service in the Army - did little to instil discipline or control the violence which was to become a hallmark of their lives. In the 1950s they set up an East End protection racket and in 1960 moved into the West End to open a gambling club, Esmerelda's Barn, in Knightsbridge. They even persuaded a peer to join them on the board to give the club an appearance of respectability. With Charlie providing the business brainpower behind the operations the twins became the public face of The Firm. Obsessed with celebrities, they entertained actors, pop stars and sportsmen and anyone else with a claim to fame in the club.
Homosexual scandal
They were not well known to the public until July 1964, when the Sunday Mirror ran a story that Scotland Yard had been investigating a homosexual relationship between a prominent peer and a leading thug in the London underworld. They were not named, but it soon became clear that they were Ronnie Kray and Lord 'Bob' Boothby, a media personality and former Conservative. Boothby denied any impropriety, explaining away a photograph of them together as simply Ronnie's wish to be pictured with a celebrity. The Mirror backed down, sacked its editor, apologised, and paid Boothby �40,000 in an out-of-court settlement. Over the next four years the Krays imposed a reign of violence in the London underworld, before being arrested for murdering two other gangsters.
Murderers jailed
Ronnie shot George Cornell in the Blind Beggar public house in Whitechapel in 1966 for calling him a "fat poof".A year later Reggie stabbed Jack 'The Hat' McVitie in a flat in North London. His body was never found.Scotland Yard had been on the trail of the Krays for years, and in 1968 they were arrested by Detective Superintendent 'Nipper' Read and charged with murder. They appeared at the Old Bailey in 1969, along with members of their gang, including Charlie, who got seven years for other crimes. The twins were jailed for life with a recommendation that they serve 30 years.
Kray legend
The twins started serving their sentences in various jails, until Ronnie was committed to Broadmoor as criminally insane. But their incarceration did little to suppress the Kray legend.
Spandau Ballet
-A Matter of Time
He lays alone cries on his own
for horizons he'll never reach
and all of those dreams are washed on the beach.
She's drowing in oceans of shackled emotions
going round and around in her head
while out on the streets people forget
that it's love you want
love you want
love you want.
She speaks of hoping he speacks of fighting
and tells her that they will come through
'cause he wants to feel the shock of the new
people that hurt you and they burn you
with acid the falls that falls from the sky
while out of the silence your voice says why ?
If it's love you want
love you want
love you want
It's a matter of time a matter of time
but you're asking why oh life makes you cry?
Turn moss into roses and blood into wine.
It's a matter of time a matter of time
but all of your past still plays on your mind
and maybe tomorrow you'll live by design
it's a matter of time.
This isn't giving this isn't living
oh just days that pull you apart
and tears turn to rust that fall on steel hearts
so swallow youe maybes and cradle your babies
tell them that they will come through
their gonna feel the shock of the New
and if it's love you want
love you want
love you want
It's a matter of time a matter of time
but you're asking why oh life makes you cry?
Turn moss into roses and blood into wine.
It's a matter of time a matter of time
but all of your past still plays on your mind
and maybe tomorrow you'll live by design
it's a matter of time.
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