On 11 August 1982, imprisoned gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray were allowed out under heavy guard to attend the funeral of their mother, Violet.
The identical twins arrived separately at Chingford Old Church in east London, each handcuffed to an escort and surrounded by police and prison officers.
It was the first time the brothers had appeared together in public since they were convicted of murder in 1969. Their temporary release attracted intense media attention and once again exposed the fascination surrounding two violent criminals who had become notorious figures in British popular culture.
Violet Kray dies
Violet Kray died from cancer on 4 August 1982, one day before her 73rd birthday.
She had been a central figure in the twins’ lives. Ronnie and Reggie remained deeply attached to her throughout their rise in London’s criminal underworld and their subsequent imprisonment.
The family’s home in Vallance Road, Bethnal Green, had long provided the brothers with a base in the East End. Violet continued visiting and supporting her sons after they received life sentences.
Her death presented the authorities with a difficult decision. Prisoners can be granted compassionate leave in exceptional circumstances, but the Krays’ notoriety, sentences and security classifications made any temporary release unusually sensitive.
Compassionate leave under heavy security
Permission was eventually granted for both twins to attend the funeral service.
Ronnie was brought from Broadmoor Hospital, where he had been detained since 1979 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Reggie travelled from Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight.
They arrived separately at All Saints’ Church in Chingford, commonly known as Chingford Old Church. Contemporary photographs and news footage show both men in handcuffs and accompanied closely by their escorts.
The security operation was intended to allow the brothers to pay their respects without creating an opportunity for escape or placing the public at unnecessary risk.
The twins were permitted to attend the church service but were not allowed to accompany the family to Violet’s burial in the Kray family plot at nearby Chingford Mount Cemetery.
A major public spectacle
News that the Krays would be present drew reporters, photographers and onlookers to Chingford.
Flowers and wreaths filled the funeral procession. Actress Diana Dors, accompanied by her husband Alan Lake, was among the prominent mourners recorded by contemporary news cameras. Former criminal and writer John McVicar was also seen among those gathered.
The twins’ father, Charles Kray, and their older brother Charlie attended with other members of the family.
Ronnie acknowledged people waiting outside as he was escorted from a vehicle, while Reggie was also photographed moving between his transport and the church in handcuffs.
The appearance generated extensive newspaper and television coverage. The extraordinary security, the celebrity mourners and the Krays’ enduring reputation transformed a private family bereavement into a national news event.
Why were the Krays in prison?
Ronnie and Reggie Kray had led a criminal organisation known as the Firm in London during the 1950s and 1960s.
Their activities included protection rackets, intimidation, robbery and violence. They cultivated connections with celebrities and nightclub society, helping create the glamorous image which later became attached to them.
Behind that image were serious crimes and frightened victims.
Ronnie shot and killed rival criminal George Cornell at the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel in March 1966. Reggie murdered Jack McVitie at a flat in Stoke Newington in October 1967.
The twins were arrested in May 1968 following a major Scotland Yard investigation. In 1969, both were convicted at the Old Bailey and sentenced to life imprisonment, with the trial judge recommending that each should serve at least 30 years.
Their convictions brought an end to the organisation which had used violence and fear to exert influence across parts of London’s East End.
The first joint appearance since their convictions
By August 1982, the twins had been detained for more than 14 years. Their arrival at the funeral therefore provided the public with its first sight of them together since the conclusion of their trial.
The men were approaching their 49th birthday. Ronnie, wearing glasses, appeared physically changed from the images taken during the height of the twins’ notoriety. Reggie, too, was recognisably older than the sharply dressed nightclub figure familiar from photographs of the 1960s.
The images reinforced two competing perceptions of the brothers. To some observers they remained symbols of a vanished East End, surrounded by stories about loyalty, family and celebrity. To others they were convicted murderers whose public mythology obscured the brutality of their crimes.
The decision to grant compassionate leave did not reduce their sentences or change their status. Both were returned to secure custody immediately after the funeral service.
The funeral and the Kray legend
Funerals later became an important part of the mythology surrounding the Kray family.
When the twins’ father died in March 1983, Ronnie and Reggie did not seek permission to attend. Accounts of the decision commonly attribute it to the publicity and disruption which had surrounded Violet’s funeral.
Ronnie died following a heart attack in March 1995 while still detained at Broadmoor. Reggie was allowed out of prison to attend his brother’s funeral, again under guard.
Reggie was released on compassionate grounds in August 2000 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died in October of that year.
Both brothers were eventually buried in the family plot at Chingford Mount Cemetery, alongside their parents and Reggie’s first wife, Frances Shea.
Crime, celebrity and uncomfortable memory
The events of 11 August 1982 illustrate the unusual position the Kray twins occupied in British public life.
They were serving life sentences for murder, yet their brief appearance outside secure custody became a public spectacle attended by crowds and prominent personalities.
Films, books and photographs subsequently strengthened their status as cultural figures. That continuing interest makes accuracy especially important. Ronnie and Reggie were not merely colourful nightclub owners or East End celebrities: they headed a violent criminal enterprise and were convicted of killings committed to enforce its authority.
Compassionate leave allowed them to mourn their mother for a few hours. It did not excuse their crimes, erase their victims or represent any movement towards permanent release.
On 11 August 1982, the brothers entered Chingford Old Church in handcuffs, said farewell to the woman who had remained closest to them and then returned to the institutions in which they would spend most of the rest of their lives.