Ronnie and Reggie Kray were identical twins born in 1933. They grew up watching gangster movies in Hollywood and dreamed of becoming famous and feared. Secrets of the Krays follows their rise to gangster stardom, including never-before-seen evidence, intimate interviews with former gangsters, friends, and relatives, and more. The Krays were notorious in their own right, and their family story is fascinating, even if it’s fiction.

Ronnie’s homosexuality

If you’re a fan of the Kray twins, you know that Ronnie was openly gay. While it was illegal to be gay until 1967, it was still a fact that Ronnie openly flirted with other male gang members. The book Ronnie: A Life in Hell details Ronnie’s shocking admission that he was gay. However, it doesn’t explain how his homosexuality led to the couple’s marriage.

Freddie ‘Brown Bread’ Foreman, who was a former enforcer for the Kray family, recently shared stories of Ronnie with Tom Hardy, who will play the character of Ronnie. Freddie has confirmed that Ronnie admitted his homosexuality in his mid-teens, although this isn’t documented. Furthermore, Reggie and Ronnie’s marriage was a sham. Reggie’s wife, Frances Shea, committed suicide two years after they married, which raised the question of whether or not the Krays had any children.

Reggie’s homosexuality

The Kray twins are not the first notorious gay gangsters. Gay gangsters were present in London before the Kray brothers, and this fact was hinted at in black and white films and in British gangster flicks from Richard Burton onwards. Ronnie Kray, the older brother of Reggie Kray, was originally bisexual but later admitted to being homosexual. Though he remained straight throughout his life, Reggie was in fact gay. His homosexuality was an open secret, and this was revealed in his sarcastic character in the film Legend.

In New Orleans, Reggie was sexually and spiritually unleashed. While attending Jesuit high school, he won a scholarship to attend a Catholic college. His studies at the University of Dallas were unimpressive, so he transferred to St. Charles College, a Catholic college, to study theology. During his college years, he discovered he was gay and confessed his feelings to a superior, who recommended that he attend Loyola University.

Frances’s marriage to Reggie

The marriage between Frances Shea and Reggie Kray was troubled from the start, and even after her death, Frances remained unhappy. The couple fought bitterly for more than a decade, but their differences did not prevent them from making each other miserable. The relationship between the two was troubled, and Reggie resorted to using delay tactics. After Frances was found dead of a drug overdose in 1967, the couple filed for annulment. Frances’s autopsy ruled that she committed suicide. Reggie was a gangster who had taken Frances Kray’s last name prior to her death, and he told her about the murder when he was in prison.

Frances and Reggie were married when she was only twenty-three. Frances’s parents, Elsie Shea and Frank Shea Sr., were both Irish immigrants from Hoxton, East London. Shea was baptized by Father Henry Wincott in October 1943, a month after World War II had ended. Her father, Frank, had worked as a chauffeur for the Kray family and drove them around town occasionally. In the early 1960s, Frances and Reggie became close, and he bought her a wedding dress.

Reggie’s affair with Jimmy Steptoe

Sandra Ireson claimed to be the secret daughter of Reggie Kray. Sandra was born after Reggie’s eight-month affair with cabaret dancer Greta Harper. Reggie and Sandra met in prison, where the two spoke for an hour. After a lengthy argument, Reggie was released. Sandra was reportedly devastated to find out that Reggie had an affair with a convicted criminal.

Reggie and Steptoe were raised by the same father, Jimmy. Sandra didn’t find out about her real father until 1995. Reggie’s twin brother, Ronnie, had died in the Wexham Park Hospital in Slough. During the funeral of his twin brother, Sandra was able to visit Reggie and Jimmy. Despite his feelings of guilt, Sandra pressed her father to release him from prison and forged a relationship with Jimmy Steptoe.

Reggie’s death

The mystery surrounding Reggie Kray’s death began after he killed Jack “the Hat” McVitie in an apparent hit. McVitie threatened the Krays’ lives, so Reggie stepped in and murdered him. Although the gun didn’t work, Reggie stabbed McVitie so brutally that his liver was literally ripped out. The shocking details of Reggie’s death reveal how his downfall began.

Reggie’s wife, Sara, and children all had to deal with his death independently, as they were in different parts of the country. While they are now living in the same area, the family members miss Reggie dearly. As the daughter of a deceased alcoholic, Sara is grieving for her brother as well. Sara remembers Reggie’s love for her mother. When she tells her brother she is reliving Reggie’s death, she realizes that Reggie had been a good friend and confidante for her.

Frank kray’s affairs with other gangsters

Ronnie and Reggie Kray were the sons of a scrap gold dealer and a gangster. Their father, Charles Kray Jr., had a love affair with Diana Dors. Their mother died of cancer when they were infants, and they were raised by their mother and two aunts. Their father dominated them both, and the twins became gay in their adolescence.

Read was promoted to the Scotland Yard Murder Squad, and assigned to bring down the Kray twins. Previously, Read had investigated the brothers’ alleged crimes in 1964, but the publicity and official denials rendered the evidence useless. Read resumed the investigation in 1967, but found himself caught in an East End “wall of silence.”