Kray funeral stirs mixed emotions

Security was tight around the packed streets

By Dick Durham, CNN.com Europe writer

LONDON, England -- Both fans and victims of the Kray Twins crammed along the length of London's Bethnal Green Road to witness the funeral of gangster Reggie, and with it, the passing of the crime dynasty he ran along with twin brother Ronnie.

Many of the mourners who turned out for the send-off in the East End were like the Reggie of the 1960s -- broad-shouldered and menacing -- but also painstakingly courteous.

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Knife scars showed on some mourners' cheek-bones, broken noses gave others a snarled way of talking and shaved heads were a blue colour in the autumn chill.

The "Terrible Twins" had started the "East End hardman" look back in the '60s, with their Prince-of-Wales-check suits, highly-polished brogue shoes, narrow silk ties and, most important of all, their never-smiling faces.

But among all the old ladies (wiping away tears for the boys that "never done no harm 'cept to their own"), the hardmen wannabees and the simply puzzled -- one Asian shopkeeper asked: "Reggie who?" -- were those with a different vision.

Lillian Pizzichini was standing next to Reggie's coffin taking pictures of the broken faces among the dead gangster's guardians.

She was there researching for her book on one of the Kray Twins' victims -- her grandfather Charlie Taylor, who ran a casino in the East End and was regularly paid a visit by the Twins for his own "protection."

"It cost him £5,000 a time," said Pizzichini, 35, who lives in London's Hackney. Her book "Dead Men's Wages" will detail the problems he faced.

"They engendered terror, they threatened to cut my grandfather if he did not pay up. They said they were collecting money for Jack "Spot" Comer who they said needed it.

"They took about £20,000 in all from my grandfather. He could never understand why they got violent. They could have had all they wanted without resorting to that."

One wreath beside Pizzichini carried the sentiment: "Although like many I never knew you, you have been my inspiration. You showed that against all odds you can make something of yourself."

Reggie's solicitor Mark Goldstein said: "Reg was an icon of the 20th century." But, he believed, this was mostly out of Reggie's hands. The gangster only sought publicity to show that his tariff of time spent inside prison should have expired.

Down in the East End it seems even some men of the cloth do not hold anti-Kray feelings.

The Rev. Mike Starkey, press officer for the Church of England, stood in the graveyard of St. Matthew's Church and said :"We do not make value judgements of people, nor give them a pass-mark. Our job is to give a message of forgiveness."

An East End friend of Reggie, Johnny Nash, said: "I found him to be a tremendous help when I had a youth club which ran into financial trouble."

An eight horse-drawn carriage took Kray's coffin to mass

He told how Reggie organised many celebrities to turn up to fund-raising sessions.

"Reggie had depths of generosity. Some may like to look at the bad instead of the good. But the Krays spoke their minds, they were honest, they were upfront."

There were those who tried to get on the bandwagon of "knowing the Krays" when in fact they did not, another said.

Sadly it seems the fact the Kray Twins went to jail in the prime of life -- they were 34 -- and died there, is likely to be forgotten among those who revere and, worse still, emulate them.

Under a wreath made of red and white carnations, three girls, Rosie, Leana and Tina, had written: "You really was a legend, and legends never die..."

Gangster Kray's final journey
October 11, 2000
Final East End salute for gangster Kray
October 11, 2000
Reggie Kray obituary
October 1, 2000

Cockney Online - The Kray Twins
The Krays
The Kray Twins: Brothers In Arms

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