Page 200 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

divorced in 1989, following which he married Kate Howard, whom he
divorced in 1994.

In an interview with author John Pearson, Ronnie indicated he identified with
the 19th century soldier Gordon of Khartoum: "Gordon was like me,
homosexual, and he met his death like a man. When it's time for me to go, I
hope I do the same."

Reggie

Reggie married Frances Shea in 1965; she committed suicide two years later.
In 1997, Reggie married Roberta Jones, whom he met while still in prison; she
was helping to publicise a film being made about him.

Controversies

There was a long-running campaign, with some minor celebrity support, to
have the twins released from prison, but successive Home Secretaries vetoed
the idea, largely on the grounds that both Krays' prison records were marred
by violence toward other inmates. The campaign gathered momentum after
the release of a film based on their lives called The Krays (1990). Produced by
Ray Burdis, it starred Spandau Ballet brothers Martin and Gary Kemp, who
played the roles of Reggie and Ronnie respectively. Ronnie, Reggie and
Charlie Kray received £255,000 for the film.

Reggie wrote: "I seem to have walked a double path most of my life. Perhaps
an extra step in one of those directions might have seen me celebrated
rather than notorious." Others point to Reggie's violent prison record when he
was being detained separately from Ronnie and argue that in reality, the
twins' temperaments were little different.

Reggie's marriage to Frances Shea in 1965 lasted eight months when she left,
although the marriage was never formally dissolved. An inquest came to the
conclusion that she committed suicide. Bradley Allardyce spent 3 years in
Maidstone Prison with Reggie and explained, "I was sitting in my cell with Reg
and it was one of those nights where we turned the lights down low and put
some nice music on and sometimes he would reminisce. He would get really
deep and open up to me. He suddenly broke down and said 'I'm going to tell
you something I've only ever told two people and something I've carried
around with me' – something that had been a black hole since the day he
found out. He put his head on my shoulder and told me Ronnie killed Frances,
apparently jealous of her bond with Reggie. Ronnie told Reggie what he had
done two days after."

Page200
A British television documentary, The Gangster and the Pervert Peer (2009),
showed that Ronnie Kray was a rapist of men. The programme also detailed